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WHEN FAIRIES WERE 
FRIENDLY 


STORIES BY 


EVALEEN STEIN 

When Fairies Were Friendly . . $1.65 


Gabriel and the Hour Book . . 1.50 

The Christmas Porringer .... 1.50 
A Little Shepherd of Provence . 1.50 
The Little Count of Normandy . 1.50 
Our Little Celtic Cousin of Long 

Ago 1.00 

Our Little Crusader Cousin of 

Long Ago 1.00 

Our Little Frankish Cousin of 

Long Ago 1.00 

Our Little Norman Cousin of 

Long Ago 1.00 


THE PAGE COMPANY 
53 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass. 






VERY BIG AND AWKWARD HE LOOKED KNEELING THERE 
BEFORE THE LITTLE LADY ” 


Wlfpn 

Wnt Jffrtpnbl^ 

BY 

Ettalera ^trtn 

♦* 

Author of ‘‘A Little Shepherd of Provence,” 
“Gabriel and the Hour Book,” “ The Christ- 
mas Porringer,” “The Little Count of 
Normandy,” “Our Little Crusader 
Cousin of Long Ago,” etc. 


JUnatrotrb bg ISIirlina door^ 



ipiagr CSantttang 
SoHtott HJirrtrxxU 




Copyright, ig22, 

By The Page Company 


All rights reserved 


Made in U. S. A. 


First Impression, September, 1922 


PRINTED BY C. H. SIMONDS COMPANY 
BOSTON, MASS., U. S. A. 



©ClAei)C138 


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To 

MY MOTHER 





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Mil 



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4 




I 


Content)* 

PAGE 

1 . The Babe in the Manger .... 3 

II. Olaf and Astrid's Christmas Eve . . 37 

III. How Nial Won the Beautiful Princess 61 

IV. The Wishing-Spring .... 107 

V. The Good Year 133 













JLfjst Of aUttsstrattottjS 

PAGE 

Very big and awkward he looked kneeling 

THERE BEFORE THE LITTLE LADY ” (see page 86) 

Frontispiece 

“The CHILDREN CREPT OUT A LITTLE WAY FROM 

BENEATH ITS BOUGHS 50 

“ As SOON AS HE SAID OVER THE CHARM WORDS THE 

Queen had taught him, back they came '' 93 

“ ' Look ! Look ! * cried Biddy. ‘ There is one of 

the LITTLE people NOW ! ”’ . . . . Il6 

“'The little New Year lay rocking in his 

CRADLE UP IN THE SKY ' ” I36 



THE BABE IN THE MANGER 


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' • * 1. ’^■* • ■ , • I 


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When Fairies Were Friendly 



THE BABE IN THE MANGER 



IVER an old city of 
Europe — never mind 
which — the Christmas- 
eve stars were twinkling 
faintly as the north wind drove the 
gathering clouds across the sky. 
Soon the snow began to fall, drifting 
whitely over the steep brown roofs 
of the ancient houses and covering 
the cobble-stones of the winding 
streets with a soft fleece. In the 
3 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


midst of the city rose a great cathe- 
dral, where the shining flakes 
touched lightly the stone fruits and 
flowers wreathing the beautiful 
portal, and tufted the wings of the 
marble angels carved above it till 
they seemed all plumed and feathery 
for flight. 

Within the gray walls, here and 
there before some shrine, a few wor- 
shippers knelt; or a tall candle shone 
with a twinkling flame, as if the 
stars, blotted out of the sky, were 
coming down to shine on earth. 
But though these little, golden 
flames lighted a small space about 
them, the echoing aisles and high 
vaulted roof were still dim and shad- 
owy, for it was not yet time for the 
4 


THE BABE IN THE MANGER 


midnight mass when hundreds more 
of the tall white candles would blaze 
out in honor of the Christ-child’s 
birthday. 

Indeed, everything was ready and 
waiting for the holy hour. Green 
Christmas garlands wound the fluted 
pillars and decked the walls between 
the lovely stained windows, and 
twined about the altar where a won- 
derful little scene, — or “creche,” as 
it was called,^ — ^had been made in 
memory of the place in Bethlehem 
where the little Jesus was born. 
There at the back were the stalls 
where one might see the heads of 
the ox and the ass, carved from wood 
and painted to resemble life; while 
directly in front was the manger 
5 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 

lined, like a pretty nest, with soft hay 
and golden straw, and in it lay the 
image of the blessed Christ-child, 
wrapped in swaddling clothes of 
white linen and with a halo of pure 
gold about his soft curls. At the 
head of the manger was a waxen fig- 
ure of Mother Mary in a robe of 
heavenly blue, her hands clasped 
and her sweet eyes gazing lovingly 
into the face of her little Son. Near 
her stood Saint Joseph, and in front 
of the manger knelt the shepherds 
who had come to worship the new- 
born Babe, their crooks in their 
hands and their shaggy brown cloaks 
looking very rough beside the splen- 
did mantles of the three wise kings. 
These were kneeling also, the aged 
6 


THE BABE IN THE MANGER 


Caspar, with his long silvery beard, 
Melchior, strong and thoughtful, 
and Balthazzar, young and hand- 
some, all sparkling with jewels and 
cloth of gold. Their heads were 
bare, for their precious crowns lay 
before the manger of the little Jesus, 
to whom they offered also their gifts 
of gold and frankincense and 
myrrh. Over all hung a golden star 
which would shine and sparkle when 
the many tall candles were lighted, 
and round about hovered waxen an- 
gels in robes of purest white. 

Everything was very still and 
beautiful, ready for the coming of 
the holy midnight. The star waited 
to twinkle, the candles to flash into 
golden flame, the white-robed an- 
7 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


gels seemed impatient to break into 
joyous song, and the shepherds and 
kings to bow lower still before the 
little Jesus. And high up in the 
cathedral tower the chime of bells 
waited also to ring out their gold 
and silver notes. 

While all these things were thus 
hushed expectantly, now and again 
some worshipper entered through 
the beautiful open portal ; and pres- 
ently, all alone, there slipped in a 
little girl. A ragged shawl partly 
covered her head and her thin little 
figure, and she clasped in her arms 
a bundle wrapped in a tattered quilt. 
If you had lifted the corner of this, 
you would have seen the wan face 
of a baby, its tiny cheeks pale and 
8 


THE BABE IN THE MANGER 


sunken and its little lips blue with 
cold; for both shawl and quilt were 
thickly powdered with snowflakes. 

The little girl looked timidly 
about her, and then slowly drawing 
near the altar where stood the 
creche, sank down on the stone floor 
to rest. 

Who was she, and where did she 
come from? Listen, and I will tell 
you. She was called Margot; I do 
not know her other name, but that 
does not matter. In the poorest part 
of the city was the little hovel that 
had been her home. Her father had 
been dead since early summer, and 
for more than a week now her 
mother had been lying ill with a 
burning fever, so that she did not 
9 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 

know how cold was their one room. 
Margot had been forced to use al- 
most the last bit of firewood to keep 
herself and little brother from freez- 
ing in the bitter cold. Nor did the 
poor mother know that only a crust 
of bread and a few drops of milk 
were left in the bare cupboard. 
Her eyes were very bright and her 
cheeks flushed, but that was because 
of the fever which made her talk at 
times so strangely that Margot was 
frightened; but at last, on Christmas 
eve, she had come to herself for a 
little while, though so pale and weak 
she could scarcely call the little girl 
to her bedside. 

When the child came to her, she 
whispered faintly, stopping often to 
10 


THE BABE IN THE MANGER 


gather her fluttering breath, that she 
was going to their father, and that 
Margot must take little brother and 
seek out the God’s House for chil- 
dren; for so was called the home 
where poor orphans were cared for 
in the old city. Then the mother’s 
eyes closed and she lay so white and 
still that Margot knew it was useless 
to try to waken her; for thus her 
father had lain, and all her tears 
had not aroused him. 

Nevertheless, bending over the 
still face on the pillow, poor little 
Margot began to cry bitterly. But 
she was a brave child and, sad and 
forlorn though she was, soon she 
tried to dry her tears and to obey her 
mother’s last words. In truth, she 


II 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


knew she must find help somewhere, 
for there were only gray ashes on the 
hearth and no longer was there even 
a crust on the cupboard shelf. So 
wrapping little brother in the old 
quilt, she took him in her arms, and 
putting the ragged shawl around her 
she tried to cover them both in its 
scanty folds. Then for the last time 
kissing her mother’s cold forehead 
she set out to find the children’s 
God’s House. Why did not their 
neighbors help? Well, that was 
because all those dwelling in that 
part of the city were almost as poor 
and miserable as the family of Mar- 
got, and child though she was, she 
shrank from asking aid from them. 

So, shivering and sorrowful, she 


12 


THE BABE IN THE MANGER 


had stumbled out into the darkness 
while the black clouds were driving 
across the sky and the snow begin- 
ning to fall. On and on the little 
girl wandered, for soon she lost her 
way. Colder and wearier and 
weaker she grew with every step; 
and though poor little brother lay 
very quietly, his eyes closed in a kind 
of stupor from cold and hunger, 
his thin, tiny body seemed a leaden 
weight in her tired arms. At last, 
when almost ready to faint, she had 
come to the cathedral, and seeing the 
open door and the lights within, had 
slipped in, as I have told you ; and 
there she was, sunk on the floor be- 
fore the altar. 

Presently, when she had rested a 

13 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 

little, she lifted her eyes to the won- 
derful creche. Though only the 
few candles lighted it, the more she 
stared at it the more wonderful it 
seemed to her. She had never be- 
fore been in the cathedral in the eve- 
ning; and while at the few Christ- 
mas times she could remember, once 
or twice she had seen the creche by 
day, never had she ventured so close 
to it. Perhaps it was the dim light 
that had made her dare to do so now. 
As she looked long and intently at 
the worshipping figures clustering 
around the little Jesus, slowly Mar- 
got’s dark eyes grew deeper and 
dreamier, and her face filled with a 
strange light. More and more real 
it all became to her; Mother Mary, 

14 


THE BABE IN THE MANGER 


with her sweet loving face, seemed 
to breathe and smile, and so also did 
the white-winged angels; even the 
three kings, in their splendid man- 
tles and gold and jewels, did not 
over-awe her, but everyone seemed 
so beautiful and kind and gentle. 
Then her gaze rested on the manger 
in the midst of all. From her place 
on the floor she could not see the 
Christ-child as he lay within it, but 
only the rim of his golden halo that 
shone amid the soft hay that 
brimmed around him as he nestled 
there. 

Just then little brother slipped 
from her knees to the stone floor. 
As she stooped and gathered him 
in her arms and his tiny cold 

15 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 

hands lay against her own, a thought 
came to ;her, filling her eyes still 
deeper with dreams. “Oh,” she said 
to herself, “if only I could tuck him 
in the manger of the little Jesus, — 
it is so soft and warm, — surely, 
surely the dear Christ-child would 
not be angry, — the manger has 
plenty of room, and little brother 
is so small !” The more she gazed 
at the overflowing hay, the more she 
wished that he might lie there, if 
only for a little while till he grew 
warm and she could rest; the stone 
floor was so cold, and her arms 
were so tired. Surely, she thought. 
Mother Mary would not forbid her, 
she looked so loving and compas- 
sionate; and the white-winged an- 

i6 


THE BABE IN THE MANGER 

gels, had they not all come down 
from the sky? So perhaps they would 
pity little brother and would take 
him with them when they flew 
back to heaven where everything 
was bright and happy. 

Now, at any other time, Margot 
would never have dared to think of 
anything so bold as laying poor 
ragged little brother near the blessed 
Christ-child. But everything seemed 
so strange and wonderful as she 
knelt there, — perhaps it was the holy 
night, perhaps it was the little Lord 
Jesus himself who whispered to her, 
— ^well, never mind what it was. 
But presently, scarcely knowing 
what she did, and moving as one in 
a dream, Margot rose to her feet, 

17 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


and lifting little brother in her arms, 
slipped softly up the steps of the al- 
tar, gliding past the kneeling kings 
and the shepherds, past Mother 
Mary and Saint Joseph, till she stood 
before the stalls where the ox and 
the ass seemed to watch her with 
wondering eyes. Then, stooping 
over the manger, swiftly she laid lit- 
tle brother, still wrapped in his tat- 
tered quilt, at the feet of the Christ- 
child shining in his snowy white 
linen and his golden halo. Pausing 
only to tuck some soft wisps of hay 
over the quilt, she moved quickly 
and silently back to her place on the 
floor; and there, the last bit of 
strength leaving her, she drew her 
shawl about her and sank into a 
i8 


THE BABE IN THE MANGER 


heavy sleep, such as comes to those 
who are too weak and weary to bear 
more. 

It seemed strange that no one had 
seen what Margot had done ; but, as 
you know, the light was still dim 
and the worshippers at the different 
shrines were all kneeling with heads 
bowed in prayer. So they did not 
guess that little brother, who had 
never known a cradle of his own, 
was tucked there in the warm hay 
of the holy manger; while overhead 
still the golden star waited to twin- 
kle, and round about, the candles 
to flame into radiant light, the an- 
gels to sing their glad songs, and 
the wise kings and the shepherds 
to bow lower still before the little 

19 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


Jesus. And still, up in the gray old 
tower, the bells were fairly quiver- 
ing with the gold and silver notes 
they would by and by chime forth. 
Nor had they long now to wait, for 
the midnight was drawing near. 

Soon came a troop of altar boys 
in white tunics and collars of lace 
and crimson velvet, and, stepping 
quickly from candle to candle, 
tipped them with shining flame till 
the shadowy cathedral blazed into 
golden light and the star over the 
manger glittered with a dazzling 
brightness. By this time the aisles 
were filled with a throng of people, 
who crossed themselves reverently, 
while on the altar the ox and the ass, 
the shepherds, the wise kings and 
20 


THE BABE IN THE MANGER 


the angels seemed listening breath- 
lessly as suddenly the bells pealed 
forth their joyous message that the 
Christmas morning had begun. 
And then, while strains of sweet 
music came thrilling through the 
air, with a sound of solemn chant- 
ing the midnight service began. 

Very stately, and almost as splen- 
did as the three wise kings, looked 
the white-haired bishop, who led the 
chant, as he stood clad in his beauti- 
ful Christmas vestments richly em- 
broidered with jewels and golden 
thread; and the two young priests 
beside him, though their robes were 
not so wonderful as his own, were 
none the less shining with white and 
gold in honor of the blessed birth- 
21 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


day. Round them all rose clouds of 
fragrant incense as sparkling cen- 
sers were swung to and fro; — and 
still no one knew of little brother ly- 
ing in the holy manger, nor noticed 
Margot, whom the music had roused 
from her sleep and who knelt now 
in the shadow of the altar steps, gaz- 
ing with fascinated eyes at the 
creche. 

As she watched the candles and 
the star, shining and twinkling, and 
listened to the glorious music, her 
pale, pinched little face grew lovely 
with happiness; so sure she was that 
her dream was true, that all was 
real; that it was indeed a bit of 
heaven itself up there on the altar, 
and that the little Jesus, Mother 
22 


THE BABE IN THE MANGER 

Mary, and the hovering angels 
would somehow take away all her 
troubles. As for little brother lying 
there at the feet of the Christ-child, 
at first he had been too cold and 
wretched to stir. But, by and by, 
the soft hay warmed his numb little 
body, and then, when the lights 
blazed out, slowly he opened his 
eyes, and oh ! if you could have seen 
the wonder in them! He stared at 
the golden candle flames and the 
twinkling star in amazed delight, 
stared and stared, as if he would 
never leave off looking. Then at 
last his gaze fell on Mother Mary 
bending over the manger with 
her sweet face and her loving smile, 
and little brother, struggling feebly, 
23 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


freed his tiny arms from the cover- 
ing quilt and reached them toward 
her with a little cry of gladness. 
But no one heard it, for at that mo- 
ment a wave of music filled the air, 
quite drowning his baby voice. 

So the service went on, till pres- 
ently the last song was finished, and 
softly and slowly the joyous music 
trembled into silence. But the glad 
notes had scarcely died away and the 
worshippers had not yet risen to 
their feet, when suddenly little 
(brother, who had reached his tiny 
hands in vain to Mother Mary, gave 
a shrill wail of despair. At first 
those farthest back in the cathedral 
paid no heed, thinking only that 
some mother, who had no one with 
24 


THE BABE IN THE MANGER 


whom to leave it, had brought her 
little one with her to the midnight 
mass. But those nearer the altar 
heard with surprise, for the cry 
sounded — but no, they thought, it 
could not possibly come from the 
manger! 

But hark! Again it rose, the 
shrill cry of a baby, and there could 
no longer be any doubt that it was 
indeed the holy manger from which 
it came. 

At once a great thrill of won- 
der swept through the cathedral. 
Some of the kneeling throng bowed 
their heads still lower in prayer, 
while others sprang to their feet cry- 
ing out, *‘A miracle! A miracle! 
The holy Babe lives again on earth!” 

25 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


For they could think of nothing but 
that the image of the Christ- 
child, with his pretty curls and his 
golden halo, had come to life as it 
lay there in the hay. 

But their cries were quickly 
hushed when they saw the look of 
horror and amazement on the face 
of one of the priests, who had hur- 
ried to the manger and was now 
bending over it. He was young 
and full of zeal for his faith. No 
doubt he became gentler as he grew 
older and saw more of the suffering 
of the world, but just then it seemed 
to him a dreadful and deadly sin that 
anyone should have dared to lay so 
ragged and miserable a waif as little 
brother in the manger of the blessed 
26 


THE BABE IN THE MANGER 


Jesus! At first he could not speak 
for horror ; then slowly lifting from 
the nest of hay the forlorn little bun- 
dle, as if the poor wailing baby were 
an unholy thing, he held it at arm’s 
length, taking care that it’s rags did 
not touch his own shining garments. 
And then, looking accusingly 
around, he asked, in a loud, harsh 
voice, “W ho has dared to do this im- 
pious thing f” 

At his look and his words the 
happy dream that had laid its spell 
upon little Margot was broken and 
fled away; and starting with fright, 
she could only gasp for breath. She 
felt now that she had been guilty 
of a dreadful sin, and she did not 
know what punishment she would 
27 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


receive. She was afraid; but then 
there was little brother who was not 
to blame and who might be punished 
instead, if they did not know ; so, for 
his sake, she resolved to speak, for I 
have told you she was a brave child. 
Gathering together all her courage, 
“O reverend father,” she said faintly, 
“It is only little brother. I laid him 
in the manger because he was so 
cold. It was just for a little while !” 
she added pleadingly. 

On hearing this, the priest looked 
sternly at her. “Wicked girl,” he 
said, “have you no parents to 
teach you reverence for sacred 
things?” 

Poor Margot shook her head, and 
then bursting into terrified sobbing, 
28 


THE BABE IN THE MANGER 

she reached out her arms, crying pit- 
eously, “O sir, give him to me, and 
I will go and find the children’s 
God’s House! I had lost the 
way.” 

The priest was about to hand little 
brother to her, perhaps glad thus to 
be rid of him, when suddenly the 
white-haired bishop, who had been 
listening to every word, stepped be- 
tween. 

Looking down at Margot with 
pitying eyes, “There, little one,” he 
said gently, “dry your tears, and do 
not go away.” Then, turning to 
the young priest, he held up a warn- 
ing finger. “Have a care, my son! 
Have you forgotten the words of 
our Master concerning such as 
29 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


these?” And he looked meaningly 
at the two forlorn waifs. “Give the 
child to me!” he commanded, hold- 
ing out his hands. 

Bewildered and shame-faced, the 
young priest obeyed; and had poor 
little brother been in very truth the 
living Christ-child himself, the good 
bishop could not have received him 
more tenderly or more reverently. 
Closely he pressed him to his breast, 
quite heedless that the tattered quilt 
lay against his beautiful white robe 
with its sparking jewels and embroi- 
dery of golden thread. And as he 
felt the gentle arms about him, lit- 
tle brother, his eyes still full of tears, 
stopped crying and smiled up into 
the eyes of the bishop, which — 

30 


THE BABE IN THE MANGER 


would you believe it? — were filled 
with shining tears also. 

And then the good bishop stood 
up very straight and tall beside the 
manger, and oh, it was wonderful to 
see him, as, still clasping little 
brother close to his heart, he lifted 
his right hand! When he did that, 
over the throng of people, who had 
been watching and listening in sil- 
ent amazement, there fell such a 
hush that I think you could almost 
have heard the snowflakes falling 
softly without. And then he spoke. 
His voice was not loud, but as clear 
and sweet and trembling with 
golden and silvery notes as the 
Christmas bells up in the tower; 
and, like them, it seemed to fill every 

31 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


shadowy nook of the gray old cathe- 
dral. “My children,” he said to the 
people, “when the dear Christ-child, 
whose image lies in this manger, 
grew to be a man and walked on 
earth, you know He loved nothing 
so much as to have the little ones 
clustering about His feet; and you 
remember how often and how ten- 
derly He held them in His arms.” 
And then very simply, neither add- 
ing nor taking away a single 
syllable, he repeated the beauti- 
ful words which our Lord Jesus 
spoke concerning little children. 
That was all. 

When he ended, there was a mo- 
ment’s pause, but only a moment, so 
the people might be quite sure he 

32 


THE BABE IN THE MANGER 

had finished; and then more than 
one, moved with compassion for the 
poor waifs, began to press forward. 
But hurrying swiftly ahead of all 
came a beautiful woman. Flinging 
back her furred mantle, she knelt 
before the altar and lifting up her 
arms imploringly to the bishop, 
“Reverend father,” she said, “give 
me the little ones, and they shall be 
to me as my own children!” And 
a kindly faced man, who had fol- 
lowed her, knelt beside her, saying, 
“My lord bishop, as my wife says, 
even so they shall be to me.” 

The good bishop looked into the 
woman’s face, as sweet and tender as 
the face of Mother Mary bending 
over the manger. 

33 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 

“Daughter,” he said, smiling 
gently, “the good God has chosen, 
and it is not for me to deny His 
choice.” Then solemnly blessing 
them all, he laid little brother against 
the wife’s breast, while the husband 
lifted in his strong arms little Mar- 
got, into whose eyes the dream of 
heaven had returned, brighter and 
more lovely than before. 

The people stood back for them, 
and thus they moved down the long 
aisle; and as they passed through 
the beautiful portal, the marble an- 
gels overhead seemed to flutter their 
white-plumed wings and watch 
them happily as they went out into 
the Christmas morning. 


34 


OLAF AND ASTRID’S 
CHRISTMAS EVE 


1 


OLAF AND ASTRID’s CHRISTMAS EVE 


NCE upon a time, in a 
small village in a far- 
away country, lived a 
little brother and sister, 
named Olaf and Astrid. Most of 
the village folk had comfortable cot- 
tages, with thatched roofs and cozy 
chimney corners; but the home of 
Olaf and Astrid was only a tumble- 
down hut by the edge of the road; 
for they were very poor. Their 
father was dead, and their mother, 
who was not strong, was obliged to 
toil all day long to keep them in 
bread; and it was only hard, black 
37 



WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 

bread at that. All day long — stitch, 
stitch, stitch — she sewed at the work 
brought to her by her more well-to- 
do neighbors; and while she toiled, 
the children, who were bright, cheer- 
ful little souls, did their best to help. 
Every day Astrid tidied up the hut, 
while Olaf would trudge off to the 
near-by forest to gather faggots to 
burn; and it meant many weary 
loads for the little boy; for it was 
near Christmas time, and the win- 
ter was very cold. Nevertheless, 
though the wind whistled through 
the crevices of the hut, they man- 
aged always to keep a bit of fire on 
the hearth, and they did not com- 
plain if their bread was scanty and 
their fingers often numb with frost. 

38 


ASTRID’S CHRISTMAS EVE 


When the day before Christmas 
came, Olaf and Astrid went out 
with the village folk to the forest to 
gather the ground-pine and juniper 
berries which everybody liked to 
twine into pretty, green garlands to 
brighten their homes and make gay 
their windows against the time for 
lighting the Christmas candles. 
For you know that when, on the 
blessed Christmas-eve, the dear 
Christ-child comes down from 
heaven and softly treads the earth 
again, it pleases him to have those 
who love him set candles in their 
windows to cheer and guide him on 
his way. 

As now the merry folk strayed 
through the forest, looking for the 
39 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


pine and juniper, there was much 
happy chatter of the beautiful 
Christmas trees trimmed and wait- 
ing for the morrow and of all the 
holiday goodies being made ready 
for the great day. Poor little Olaf 
and Astrid listened in silence, as 
they filled their arms with the trail- 
ing greens; but they thought that, 
even though they had neither tree 
nor sweetmeats, at least they could 
garland their window and set a light 
for the Christ-child. 

But, alas, when dusk fell, and 
from the village windows one by 
one the tall wax candles — kept for 
the blessed night — began to twinkle, 
the poor children looked in vain for 
something to light. All they could 
40 


ASTRID’S CHRISTMAS EVE 

find was the half-burned end of a 
tallow candle — the last in the house. 
The mother sighed; but, “Never 
mind,” she said, “set it in the win- 
dow. At least it will show the dear 
Christ-child that we love him.” 

“And perhaps it will light him a 
few steps on his way,” said Astrid. 

“Yes,” said Olaf, “and if he comes 
on the road through the forest, ours 
will be the first light he will see! 
Do you think he will come that way, 
mother?” 

“I cannot tell, my child,” an- 
swered the mother, as, gathering up 
her work, she drew her chair near 
the window. She had many stitches 
to take before it was finished, and 
must sew as long as possible by the 

41 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


Christ-child’s light; for she had no 
other. The wind blew in around 
the chinks of the window, and made 
the candle flame leap and flicker; 
but she drew her threadbare shawl 
closer about her shoulders and 
bravely stitched on. 

Meantime the children had gone 
to the tiny bedroom, as she had bid- 
den them; but, as they lay on their 
straw bed, they were not asleep. 
They were whispering together 
about how wonderful it was that the 
Christ-child should come down to 
earth for that one night; and, “Oh,” 
cried Astrid, “how I wish we could 
see him!” 

Olaf thought a moment, and then 
said, “I believe we could if we tried.” 
42 


ASTRID’S CHRISTMAS EVE 

“But how?” said Astrid. “You 
know last year we watched, but the 
snow blew against the window pane, 
so nothing was to be seen!” 

“Well,” replied Olaf, “if we 
walked out in the road, perhaps we 
could see him; and, if he reaches 
the village from this side, it might be 
we would meet him as he comes out 
of the forest.” 

Astrid drew a long breath. “But 
— but — ,” she said, “do you think 
mother will let us?” 

“We can ask her,” answered Olaf. 
“But we will get ready first.” For 
Olaf, being a boy, was bolder than 
Astrid and always took the lead. 

Hurriedly they sprang out of bed 
and eagerly dressed themselves in 
43 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


their carefully patched little gar- 
ments, put on their thin stockings 
and worn little shoes, and then went 
into the other room. But their 
poor, tired mother was sitting mo- 
tionless by the window. The work 
had fallen from her numb fingers, 
and, her head drooped on her breast, 
she slept in spite of herself. 

As the children stood irresolute, 
“Poor mother!” they whispered. 
“We will not waken her. We will 
not be gone long. Surely the 
Christ-child will soon be coming, 
and we shall be back before she 
misses us.” 

Then quietly they opened the 
door, and closing it softly behind 
them, stepped out into the night. 
44 


ASTRID’S CHRISTMAS EVE 

They looked anxiously down the 
long village street, and, though the 
snow was falling, here and there 
they caught the twinkle of the wax 
candles; but no Christ-child could 
they see. Then they turned and 
looked toward the dark road beyond 
the village; for their hut stood on 
its outskirts, 

“Somehow,” said Olaf, “it seems 
to me that he will come through the 
forest and down this road to the vil- 
lage, Let us walk along it a little 
way, and maybe we shall meet him.” 

Astrid shivered a little, but she 
did not want Olaf to think her a 
coward; so, putting her hand in his, 
she trudged along beside him. 
Soon the wind, which had been 
45 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


blowing in fitful gusts, rose to a 
fierce gale, whirling the heavy snow 
in their faces and chilling them with 
bitter cold. As they tried vainly to 
make their way against the cruel 
blast, at last Astrid began to sob. 
“Oh, Olaf,” she cried, “let us go 
back!” 

By this time Olaf, too, was quite 
willing to turn back; but where? 
The blinding snow hid all the twin- 
kling candles from sight, and every- 
where it was very dark. They had 
no idea where their own little hut 
stood, for they had quite lost their 
way. On and on they stumbled, 
every moment their little bodies 
growing colder and colder in the 
piercing wind. By and by they 
46 


ASTRID’S CHRISTMAS EVE 


found themselves in the great forest, 
and now and again, as they tried to 
feel for some path, they would 
bruise their little hands against the 
icy trunks of the giant trees. 

All the while the bitter cold was 
creeping closer and closer around 
their hearts and the chill white flakes 
falling faster and faster as they wan- 
dered on, till at last, in despair, they 
were about to sink down in a snow- 
drift to die. But just as they had 
given up all hope, suddenly a low, 
murmuring voice reached their ears. 
It was like the soft whispering of 
pine boughs in summer, only clearer 
and plainer, and it came from a 
young fir tree growing near by. 
“Come hither, little ones,” it mur- 
47 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


mured, “and nestle under my 
boughs! I will shelter you.” 

Tremblingly the shivering chil- 
dren groped their way toward the 
friendly voice, and, sinking down 
in the snow, crept beneath the fir 
branches, which, as it was a young 
tree, grew very near the ground. 
Immediately the soft green boughs 
seemed to close about and caress 
them. The icy chill thawed from 
around their hearts and the warm 
blood tingled to their finger-tips. 

Before long the fir boughs began 
murmuring and whispering again, 
as if they had something wonderful 
to tell ; but as neither Olaf nor Astrid 
could quite understand them, pres- 
ently their eyes began to blink as 
48 


ASTRID’S CHRISTMAS EVE 

they nestled in their cozy little shel- 
ter. Perhaps they slept a little; but 
soon they sat up very wide awake, 
for the most marvelous white light 
was beginning to stream through 
the rustling branches. 

“Can it be the moon?” whispered 
Astrid. Olaf peered from out their 
shelter; but, though the snow had 
ceased to fall, he could see no moon, 
— only the bleak, cloudy sky. 

Yet brighter and brighter grew 
the strange white light. It was like 
the whiteness of thousands of 
Easter lilies, flooding the fir tree 
with a dazzling radiance. And all 
at once the children were over- 
whelmed with happiness; they did 
not know why, but their little hearts 
49 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


seemed fairly bursting with joy. 
Never in all their lives had they felt 
so glad. The fir tree, too, seemed 
filled with joy; for its soft whisper- 
ing had changed to a flute-like, sil- 
very singing, high and sweet and 
thrilling with gladness, and all its 
little icy cones were clapping to- 
gether with a tinkling music. 

Wonder-struck, the children crept 
out a little way from beneath its 
boughs, so they could look up at it; 
for the most marvelous things were 
happening. As the lovely white 
light poured over it, they saw that 
the snow on its topmost branches 
had turned into a glittering golden 
star; all the filmy threads of hoar- 
frost which had covered it became 
50 



“ THE CHILDREN CREPT OUT A LITTLE WAY FROM BENEATH 

ITS BOUGHS ” 


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ASTRID’S CHRISTMAS EVE 


shimmering silver and gold cob- 
webs; while, as they looked, they 
could see all the little icy cones swell- 
ing — some into pink-cheeked ap- 
ples of sugar, others into gilded nuts 
or cornucopias of sugar-plums. 
And then all the feathery green 
boughs broke into the strangest 
blossoming. Suddenly they were 
hung with the gayest and most be- 
witching playthings. 

As Olaf and Astrid gazed at the 
marvelous tree, more beautiful than 
anything they had ever dreamed of, 
with little cries of delight they 
reached out their arms toward it, as 
if they would hug it to their breasts, 
though they did not venture to touch 
it. But, even as they stretched out 

51 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


their arms, they felt them filled with 
the wonderful sweetmeats and play- 
things. As they sank back with 
joyous sighs of content, slowly the 
white radiance began to pale — and 
pale; and then a great drowsiness 
came upon the children, and, still 
clasping their treasures close to their 
hearts, they crept back beneath the 
fir boughs and fell asleep. 

At daybreak there came a tinkle 
of sleigh-bells through the forest; 
for a traveler from a distant village 
was on the road early. As he drove 
along between the great pines and 
hemlocks, all at once he noticed the 
young fir tree. Not that there was 
anything strange about it, as it stood 
52 


ASTRID’S CHRISTMAS EVE 


green and feathery, laden only with 
little drifts of snow; but under its 
boughs there was a bright gleam of 
scarlet. 

The traveler stopped his sleigh, 
and, going to the spot, what should 
he see but Olaf and Astrid still sound 
asleep ! They were dressed in little 
red coats with shining buttons, and 
warm caps and mittens. On Olaf’s 
feet were red-topped boots, such as 
he had long wished for, and Astrid 
wore pretty little shoes of scarlet 
leather. The pockets of their coats 
were stuffed with sugar-plums and 
sweetmeats, and the children were 
still hugging their wonderful toys. 

The traveler looked at them in 
utter amazement. At first he 
53 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


thought they must be frozen, lying 
there in the bitter cold. But, as 
he stooped to lift them from the 
snow, they opened happy eyes and 
smiled at him. “How now !” he ex- 
claimed in astonishment. “Who 
are you, and how came you here?” 

“Please, sir,” said Olaf, gathering 
his wits together, “we are Olaf and 
Astrid, and we came out to see the 
Christ-child.” Here he caught 
sight of all his new finery, and was 
dumb with surprise. So, too, was 
Astrid, who was so bewildered that 
she could answer no more questions. 
The traveler decided they were chil- 
dren from the village who must have 
strayed from home, and he was 
about to lift them into the sleigh 
54 


ASTRID’S CHRISTMAS EVE 


when suddenly he paused ; for he had 
noticed something in the snow where 
a drift had left it smooth. “Where,” 
he asked Olaf, “is the other child 
who was with you?” 

“There was no one but Astrid, 
sir,” answered Olaf. 

“But look!” said the traveler 
sharply. “There must have been 
another ; for here in the snow are the 
prints of little bare feet!” 

But, even as they stared at these, 
tiny white flames seemed to play 
over them, melting the snow; and 
where every footprint had been 
there sprang up a tuft of violets. 
At this the traveler uncovered his 
head and knelt in the snow beside 
them. 


55 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


When he rose to his feet, he said 
no more, but, placing the children 
in the sleigh, drove to the village; 
and when Olaf pointed out their hut, 
he took them to the door and softly 
opened it. The mother, still sitting 
by the window, started from her 
sleep; for so weary had she been 
that all night long she had not wak- 
ened. The candle had burned to 
its socket, and the faggots on the 
hearth were only a heap of ashes; 
but, in spite of the wintry cold, the 
room was warm and pleasant, and 
the work, which had fallen from her 
tired fingers, lay finished and folded 
in her lap. 

The traveler went on to the village 
inn for his Christmas breakfast ; and, 

56 


ASTRID’S CHRISTMAS EVE 

when he told the strange things he 
had seen, the news quickly flew 
from mouth to mouth, and soon all 
the villagers were flocking to the 
little hut. There, when they saw 
Olaf’s and Astrid’s wonderful gifts, 
and heard the marvelous happen- 
ings of the night, they looked at each 
other in awe, and whispered one to 
another: “Surely it was no other 
than the blessed Christ-child him- 
self who passed through the forest 
last night and took compassion on 
these fatherless little ones !” 

And then more than one face 
among them reddened with shame, 
as they remembered how selfish and 
thoughtless they themselves had been 
to let their poor neighbors suffer. 
57 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


Right away they set to work with 
hammers and saws, and stopped up 
the chinks and made the little hut 
warm and comfortable ; for how bet- 
ter, they said, could they keep the 
Christ-child’s birthday? Then they 
saw to it that the rickety little table 
held a share of their own Christmas 
cheer. 

Nor did the good villagers now 
that they had wakened up, forget 
their kindnesses, and day by day the 
poor mother found her burdens 
lightened by many a helping hand. 
And, as for Olaf and Astrid, why, 
there were no happier children in 
all the world ! 


58 


HOW NIAL WON THE 
BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS 


1 


i 


X 


HOW NIAL WON THE BEAUTIFUL 
PRINCESS 



jONG, long ago in Ire- 
land there were no 
towns or villages ; only 
I wattled houses, made 


of hazel-rods and plaster, scattered 
through the country. Everybody 
had a bee-hive and a cow and a lit- 
tle oatfield, because the things they 
liked best of all to eat and drink 
were honey and milk and porridge. 
In the middle of the kingdom rose 
a high mound, and on top of this 
stood the King’s palace, which was 
made of wood handsomely carved, 
with the door-posts inlaid with gold 


6i 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


and silver and precious stones. 

The King was good-natured and 
easy-going; and though he wore a 
rich mantle and wide torque or col- 
lar of gold, and many bracelets, and 
his crown was of fine gold and cov- 
ered his head like a broad-brimmed 
hat, nevertheless every day he and 
the Queen and their only child, a 
beautiful young Princess, ate their 
honey and porridge and drank their 
milk just like everybody else. This 
greatly displeased the high cham- 
berlain who managed the affairs of 
the palace, and who was proud and 
haughty and thought it wrong that 
the King did not put on more airs. 

So one morning, as breakfast was 
being served to the royal family, the 
62 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 


chamberlain made bold to go before 
the King. “Your Highness,” he 
said, bowing very low, “though your 
dishes are gold and silver, the food 
they hold is the same as the common 
people have, and they will think 
you no better than they. Shall I 
not order something more rare and 
costly?” 

“Why, no,” said the King, look- 
ing at him in surprise, “we like 
these things best.” Then, as he was 
about to dip a spoonful of honey 
over his porridge, “If it will satisfy 
you,” he added, “I will make a law 
that nobody but myself and the 
Queen and the Princess be allowed 
to eat honey on their porridge for 
breakfast. That will show them I 

63 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


am a King and can make laws which 
they must obey.” 

With that, he dismissed the cham- 
berlain, who was not at all pleased 
with the way things had turned out, 
but who was obliged to proclaim the 
new law throughout the kingdom. 
Nobody else liked it, either, when 
they found they might no longer 
eat honey on their porridge. But 
the people were peaceable and well- 
behaved, and the King had always 
before treated them kindly, so no one 
dreamed of disobeying him ; indeed, 
if they did, they knew they would 
be punished by the high chamber- 
lain. 

So much for the folks who lived 
above ground. But they were not 
64 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 


the only people in Ireland; for, hid- 
den under all the green hills and 
meadows, were hundreds and hun- 
dreds of fairies. 

These fairies, who had once been 
mortals like the rest, had been con- 
quered in war and about to be sold 
into slavery, but, being wise in 
magic, had been able to cast a spell 
over themselves, so that they became 
smaller and smaller, and at last 
turned into fairies. Then they 
crept under-ground and built them- 
selves wonderful halls and palaces. 
In these they feasted every day on 
magic meat and mead which kept 
them forever young and beautiful. 
Often, on moonlight nights, they 
would come out to dance and frolic 

65 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 

in the meadows ; though always they 
kept out of sight of grown folks, for 
they had not forgotten that it was 
grown folks who conquered them in 
war. But if now and then a boy 
or girl chanced to spy their merry- 
making, they did not mind; though 
they would whisper to them to keep 
what they had seen to themselves. 
And the children promised, and 
always kept their word to the little 
people. 

Now at this time, in one of the 
smallest of the wattled houses, lived 
a poor woman named Bridget, and 
her only child, a bright-eyed boy 
called Nial. They had no torques 
or bracelets, and their clothes were 
old and ragged; but they had a lit- 
66 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 

tie bee-hive, and a cow, and a tiny 
bit of ground where they raised a 
few oats for porridge. A peat bog 
was near, so they always had a fire 
on the hearth; and that contented 
they were, Bridget would sing over 
her work and Nial whistle as mer- 
rily as if he were a king’s son. 
Every day Nial took the cow to 
pasture; but one spring evening, 
when he went as usual to bring her 
to the byre, she had strayed into the 
bog. It took a while to find her, 
and when he did and started for 
home, the moon was up and flooding 
the meadow ahead of him with a 
silvery light. As he stepped along 
through the green grass, all at once 
he heard a low, tinkling sound, for 
67 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


all the world like a brook when the 
ice begins to thaw in April. Then 
the tinkling grew livelier and faster 
and turned into a rollicking dance 
tune. 

“Musha!” said Nial to the cow 
walking soberly ahead of him, “D’ye 
hear that, and can ye still keep your 
hoofs on the ground? I’ve a mind 
to jig it with ye myself!” 

Just then there rose a flutter of 
gauzy wings, and the little people 
began to come. They seemed to 
creep from under the tufts of cow- 
slips and butter-cups, hundreds of 
them, till “Whisht!” cried Nial 
softly to the cow, “Now just run 
along to the byre — ye know the way. 
As for me, I must bide here a 
68 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 


while!” And he quickly hid him- 
self in a clump of hazel bushes, 
though not before the fairies had 
caught sight of him. 

Immediately the fairy Queen sent 
a messenger to discover who he was ; 
but when they found it was only 
Nial, “Let him be,” said the Queen, 
“he is a good boy and will do no 
mischief.” For they knew Nial for 
a kindly soul who never harmed a 
living creature, bird or beast, and 
who always took pains never to tread 
on a flower if he could help it. So, 
catching hold of hands, the little 
people began to dance. Round 
and round they tripped in the mad- 
dest, merriest frolicking, their gauzy 
wings glimmering, their little feil- 
69 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


ver shoes twinkling, and their gay 
little caps and mantles looking like 
bits of whirling rainbows. And no 
wonder, for they were made of the 
brightest spring flowers, tulips and 
daffodils, peach-blossoms and hya- 
cinths, — ^Nial fairly blinked as he 
watched them. 

“Now,” said he, admiringly to 
himself, “did ever ye see a hand- 
somer sight? And look at the col- 
ors on yonder little lady! Sure, 
our Queen herself has nothing 
finer !” For the more bright colors 
the Irish folk had in their clothes, 
the better they liked it. 

As the moon now began to wane 
and the fairies to creep out of sight, 
he noticed that the gay little mantles 
70 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 


and caps and what not, that he had 
thought so handsome, were many of 
them torn and frayed from their 
wild frolicking. 

“Musha !” again said Nial to him- 
self, “ ’Tis no matter for the likes of 
me to be wearing of a ragged coat, 
but ’tis a pity for the little people not 
to be spic and span. I’ll warrant it 
took a good two hours to hunt 
through the meadows for all those 
pretties they’ve got on their backs, 
and since they have behaved so fine 
to me, it’s I that will be helping of 
them another night.” 

When Nial had crept out of the 
hazel bushes and reached home, 
“Och now!” said his mother, “ ’Tis 
that worried I’ve been! The cow’s 

71 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


in the byre since moonrise, and sure 
I was that the little people had car- 
ried ye off!” 

“ ’Tis a bit of a handful they 
would be having, Mother!” said 
Nial, as he laughed and straightened 
himself up ; for he was a likely lad, 
strong and well grown for his years. 
“It’s moon-struck I must have been. 
Mother, as I came through the 
meadow.” And N ial threw himself 
on his bed and pretended to fall 
asleep; for he did not want to be 
questioned about what he had seen. 

The next day, when he drove the 
cow through the meadow, there was 
a ring of tall green grass where the 
fairies had danced, and he could 
think of nothing else. 

72 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 


“Maybe,” he said to himself, 
“they will come again tonight. 
Anyway, it’s ready I’ll make for 
them.” 

So before dusk fell, he went about 
gathering handfulls of cowslips and 
daisies, primroses and harebells, all 
the gayest flowers he could find, and 
heaped them on the grass near the 
fairy ring. Then he slipped into 
the spring-house where Bridget had 
set the evening’s milk, and filling a 
small gourd dipper, carried it out 
and stood it in the grass beside the 
flowers. “I’m thinking,” he said, 
“the little people will be liking of a 
drop of new milk as well as any- 
body!” For everybody knows that 
fairies are very fond of fresh milk. 
73 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


After supper, when Bridget was 
sound asleep, Nial quietly slipped 
out of bed, and unbarring the door, 
ran swiftly down to the meadow and 
hid in the hazel bushes as before. 
By and by, when the moon came up, 
sure enough, out crept the little 
people to dance and frolic again. 
When they saw the preparations 
Nial had made for them, they were 
mightily pleased. They frisked 
about sipping the new milk, and 
then they whisked the flowers on, 
caps and mantles of harebells and 
hyacinths, cowslips and primroses. 
My, how gay they looked and how 
they danced ! 

Before they flitted away to their 
underground palaces, the fairy 
74 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 


Queen said that as Nial had shown 
his kind heart, they would do some- 
thing for him. So flying to the bee- 
hive, she touched it with her wand, 
bewitching the bees so that they 
might make the finest flavored honey 
in all Ireland. Also she stroked 
with her wand the forehead of the 
cow, so she might give an inexhaust- 
ible supply of the richest milk. 

The next day Nial slept late, and 
Bridget, not wishing to wake the 
lad, ate her porridge alone. After 
a while, when her work was done, 
seeing the honey dish was empty, 
she went to the hive and brought in 
a fresh comb ; — and then, when she 
tasted it, she smacked her lips in 
amazement. “Musha!” she ex- 
75 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


claimed, tasting and smacking 
again, “Was ever there the likes of 
this! Why, lad, our bees must be 
bewitched!” 

Nial, who had roused up, laughed 
to himself, but said nothing of how 
near the truth she had guessed. 

“Why,” went on Bridget, “ ’tis 
honey fit for a king!” Then, her 
words putting an idea into the good 
woman’s head, “Bedad, now,” she 
said, “ ’tis just stepping up to the 
King’s palace I’ll be to carry a bit 
for the porridge of the young Prin- 
cess !” For all the Irish folk knew 
that the Princess was exceedingly 
fond of honey. 

“All right. Mother,” said Nial, 
who was beginning to eat the plain 
76 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 


oat porridge Bridget had set before 
him for breakfast, “but before ye go, 
just give me a bit on my porridge 
here.” 

“What?” cried his mother, be- 
wildered. “Ye know well ’tis not 
for the likes of us to be eating honey 
on porridge; that’s only for king 
folks! But sure, lad, ’tis only 
plaguing me ye are!” And never 
doubting that Nial was only teasing 
her, off she bustled for the palace, 
which was not far away. 

But the minute she shut the door, 
Nial, who was a bold lad, reached 
over for the honey dish, and, with 
a twinkle in his eye, muttering, 
“ ’Tis a pity if I can’t be playing it’s 
a king’s son I am!” dipped his big 
77 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


horn spoon full and poured it over 
his porridge. Then he smacked his 
lips, as Bridget had done, when he 
tasted it, and made haste to pour on 
some more. 

Before he had finished, Bridget, 
who walked quickly, had reached 
the palace. The young Princess 
was just ready for breakfast, and 
when her porridge was brought in 
covered with the bewitched honey, 
and she tasted it, my, my, that 
pleased she was, you never saw the 
like! Immediately she begged the 
King, her father, to buy Bridget’s 
bees and have their hive placed in 
the royal garden. At once the 
King sent out a generous purse of 
gold, and commanded the high 

78 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 


chamberlain to buy the bees and to 
reward the good woman who had 
brought the honey. 

But the chamberlain, who was as 
dishonest and grasping as he was 
proud, determined to find some 
other way to get the bees, and to 
keep the purse for himself: — and 
the chance came quicker than he 
thought. For, as bad luck had it, 
just as Nial was pouring the honey 
from his horn spoon over his por- 
ridge, along came a withered old 
crone, who was friend to nobody; 
and peering in the window, she saw 
Nial. Nodding her head know- 
ingly, she hobbled off to the palace 
to tell what she had seen. 

The high chamberlain rubbed 

79 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


his hands with pleasure, and imme- 
diately sent a servant to seize 
Bridget’s bee-hive as punishment 
for Nial’s act. 

When the poor woman reached 
home and found how things were, 
“Ochonel Ochone!” she moaned 
to herself, and covering her head 
with her apron, all day long she 
rocked to and fro weeping bitterly. 

When dusk fell, Nial, who was 
very miserable, went out into the 
meadow. The moon was waning, 
so there was not light enough for 
the fairies to dance; nevertheless, a 
few were flitting about enjoying the 
cool air and sipping the dew. 
When Nial, who had become very 
good friends with the little people, 
8o 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 

told them about losing the bewitched 
bee-hive, they were very indignant. 
And when they slipped under- 
ground and repeated it to their 
Queen, she was downright angry 
and vowed that if Nial could not 
have the wonderful honey, neither 
should the King’s daughter. So she 
commanded a messenger to go to the 
hive and whisper to the bees that 
the meadows of the King of France 
were much finer and flowerier, and 
they would do well to go there. 

The bees, at hearing this, at once 
prepared to fly across the sea; and 
as they are gossippy little crea- 
tures, they told the other bees in the 
royal hives, and soon the word 
spread through all the kingdom, 
8i 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


and, swarm after swarm, all the bees 
flew away to the meadows of the 
King of France. 

When the Irish folk found their 
bees gone, they set up a great lamen- 
tation! Nobody could understand 
what had become of them, and they 
did not see how they could get 
along without their favorite food. 
The high chamberlain, thinking 
Nial must have something to do with 
the matter, sent and had him brought 
before the King. But to all their 
questions and threats the lad an- 
swered so bravely and fearlessly, and 
declared so truthfully that he knew 
nothing about it (for he did not 
know the fairy queen had sent the 
bees away), that they were obliged 
82 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 


to let him go ; though the high cham- 
berlain took away the milk cow, 
just for spite, and poor Bridget 
wrung her hands in vain. 

Soon it was whispered about that 
the beautiful young Princess was 
pining away! Having no honey 
for it, she would not touch her por- 
ridge, and was growing so pale and 
thin that the court physician de- 
clared that, unless the bees were 
brought back, she would surely die. 

At this, the King, in despair, sent 
heralds through the kingdom, blow- 
ing on trumpets and proclaiming 
that whoever brought the bees back 
should be richly rewarded, and, if 
a young man, should be solemnly 
betrothed to the beautiful Princess 

83 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


and marry her as soon as she reached 
a suitable age. The word spread 
through neighboring kingdoms, and 
many handsome young princes set 
their wits to work to win the beauti- 
ful Princess; but all in vain, for no- 
body knew where the bees were, or 
how to get them back again. 

Meantime it was the dark of the 
moon, and Nial’s friends, the fairies, 
no longer came to the meadow, but 
danced and froliced in their under- 
ground palaces. Still, Nial kept 
hoping that, by and by, they would 
come out again ; and then, he 
thought, he would make bold to ask 
their help. For he was a fearless 
lad, and, despite his ragged coat, did 
not see why he should not try for the 
84 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 


Princess the same as anybody else. 

So when next the moon was full 
and the meadow flooded with silver, 
he took pains to gather handfulls of 
the finest flowers he could find, and 
heaped them up as before. He 
could not bring new milk, because 
the high chamberlain had taken 
their cow; but he looked about and, 
spying some foxgloves, “There, 
now !” he cried, “ ’tis like pitchers 
of dew they are, for the little peo- 
ple!” Then, snip! snap! the even- 
ing primroses began to break, and 
filling his hands with their yellow 
cups, he set them with the foxgloves 
by the fairy rings. “Sure,” he said 
to himself as he looked at them, 
“I’ll be thinking the gold cups and 

85 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


platters of the King’s folks are no 
handsomer sight!” 

Nial had scarcely finished mak- 
ing ready for them, when, sure 
enough, the little people began to 
come out, and they all felt very 
friendly toward Nial for his kind- 
ness. He kept behind the hazel 
bushes and waited till they had fin- 
ished their frolic; and had poured 
all the dew from the foxglove 
pitchers into the primrose cups, 
from which they sipped it gladly, 
as their dancing had made them 
very warm and thirsty. Then, step- 
ping out, he dropped on his knees 
before the fairy Queen. Very big 
and awkward he looked kneeling 
there before the little lady, but she 
86 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 


listened soberly as he told about the 
lost bees and how anxious he was 
to win the beautiful Princess. 

When he had finished, the Queen 
frowned a bit, for she remembered 
sending away the bees without 
thinking what mischief it would do ; 
for the fairies are fickle little folks, 
and do not greatly trouble them- 
selves about the affairs of mortals. 
She was sorry for Nial, though, and 
determined to help him. So she 
thought a minute, and then she said, 
“Well, lad, it was I who sent off the 
bees to the meadows of the King of 
France; but it was easier to send 
them off than it will be to get them 
back again. I cannot send one of 
my messengers there, as we fairies 

87 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


never leave our own country; and 
besides, the fairies of France are not 
friendly to us and might do an ill 
turn. Nor would it do any good for 
you to go, for the bees would pay no 
attention to you. There is another 
way, however to get them back.” 

“Faith, Ma’am,” said Nial eag- 
erly, “Fll do your bidding, though 
’tis to fight the King of France him- 
self!” 

The lad looked so very brave and 
bold, that the fairy Queen smiled. 
“No,” she said, “ ’tis not to France 
you must be going, but to the North- 
land. So get your knapsack ready 
for a journey. Put in it some oat- 
cakes, this ball of silver cord (and 
she handed Nial a glittering ball), 
88 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 

and a cage large enough for two 
birds; you can make this yourself 
from the osiers by the brook. Then 
carry a spade over your shoulder, 
and set out for the seashore. There 
you must take ship for the North- 
land. When you get there, walk 
inland till you come to a green 
meadow where a small silver birch 
tree is growing. There will be a 
number of cuckoos singing from its 
branches, and where the notes of 
their song fall to the ground you 
will see hundreds of golden yellow 
flowers springing up. Now you 
must get two of these cuckoos and 
put them in your cage.” 

“Musha, Ma’am!” exclaimed 
Nial. “And is it salting of their 

89 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


tails I must be doing? Never yet 
have I managed to salt a bird’s tail, 
Ma’am, and ’tis many times I’ve 
tried.” And he looked so hopeless, 
that the Queen was like to laugh. 

“No,” she answered, “you need 
not trouble yourself about their tails ; 
I will teach you some charm words, 
and when you say them to the birds 
they will come to your hand easily. 
Then you must dig up the birch 
tree and wrap its roots carefully 
with the silver cord; then sling it 
over your shoulder — for you are a 
stout lad — and bring it along; for 
unless the cuckoos sing from the 
boughs of the silver birch of the 
Northland, the yellow flowers will 
not spring up.” 


90 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 


“Bedad, Ma’am,” broke in Nial 
again, “but how is all that going to 
bring back the bees?” 

“Never mind,” said the Queen 
sharply, “and ask no more ques- 
tions ! It is your business to do ex- 
actly as I bid you.” 

So Nial listened meekly as the 
Queen taught him the charm words, 
and told him to bring the birch tree 
home and plant it in the meadow, 
and then to hang the cuckoos’ cage 
on its boughs and open the door and 
see what happened. 

When she had finished, Nial 
thanked her as politely as he knew 
how, and then he hurried back 
home; and early the next morning 
he set about to do her bidding. He 

91 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


found an old knapsack, and Bridget 
baked some oat-cakes for his jour- 
ney. These he put in the knapsack, 
together with the ball of silver cord 
and the cage, which he made from 
osiers as the fairy said. Then carry- 
ing a spade over his shoulder, he 
set out for the seashore. There he 
found a ship about to sail for the 
Northland; and though he had not a 
penny, he whistled so merrily and 
laughed so heartily and promised 
so faithfully to work his way, that 
the captain took him along right 
willingly. 

When he reached the Northland, 
it all turned out exactly as the fairy 
Queen had said. He found the 
green meadow with the silver birch 
92 



AS SOON AS HE SAID OVER THE CEIARM WORDS THE QUEEN 
HAD TAUGHT HIM, BACK THEY CAME ” 



HOW NIAL WON THE PRINOESS 


tree full of cuckoos, and thousands 
of yellow flowers dotting the grass 
as they sang. Carefully stepping 
between these so as not to crush 
them, and taking the osier cage in 
one hand, he walked toward the 
tree; and though at first all the 
cuckoos flew away, as soon as he 
said over the charm words the 
Queen had taught him, back they 
came; and the first thing he knew 
two of them were fluttering round 
his head, and then they perched, one 
on each shoulder. 

“Whishst now, my pretties!” he 
said, laughing softly. “Sure and if 
ye’ll be stepping into this handsome 
cage here. I’ll take ye to a land as 
much finer than this as a shamrock 
93 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


than a cockle-burr!” Then as he 
hummed over the charm once more, 
the cuckoos flew into the cage, and 
he shut the door. 

Next he set to work to dig up the 
birch tree, and carefully wrapping 
its roots with the silver cord, he 
slung it over his shoulder together 
with the spade, and with the cage 
in his hand, again set out for the 
seashore. There he found the same 
ship in which he had sailed to the 
Northland, and the captain, who 
was about to start back to Ireland, 
took him along right willingly, as 
before. 

When they reached the land and 
Nial set off for the home meadow, 
now and then folks came out of their 
94 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 


wattled houses and asked him where 
he was going with his birch tree 
and cage of yellow birds; for no 
cuckoos had ever before come to 
I reland. And when Nial answered, 
“ ’Tis bringing back the bees I’m 
after doing!” the people pricked up 
their ears and followed along to see 
how he would do it. 

There were so many of them that 
they made a great circle about the 
home meadow, where they stood 
and watched as Nial carefully 
planted the birch tree and hung the 
open cage on its branches, as the 
fairy Queen had told him. Imme- 
diately the little people underground 
unwrapped the silver cord from its 
roots and spread them out so that 
95 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


the birch tree at once began to grow 
and flourish. Then the cuckoos, 
flying out of the cage, perched on 
its branches and began to sing; and 
as their notes fell to the ground, 
thousands of golden flowers sprang 
up through the grass. And whiff! 
whiff! as the Irish sun, so much 
warmer than in the Northland, 
shone on them, my, my, how sweet 
they smelled! Never was there 
anything like it I All the roses and 
honeysuckles in the world were as 
nothing to it! 

“Och! Och!” cried everybody, 
“was ever the likes of it for pleasant- 
ness!” 

Soon the wind began to blow 
toward the meadows of the King of 
96 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 

France; stronger and stronger it 
blew, till sniff! sniff! the bees there 
stopped in their buzzing. Sniff! 
sniff! right away, swarm after 
swarm, they flew straight across the 
sea for Ireland and began to fill their 
honey-bags from the golden flowers ; 
and then they settled down in their 
old hives and forgot all about the 
meadows of the King of France. 

Everybody was mightily pleased 
to have the bees back again ; but the 
high chamberlain was very angry 
when he found it was Nial who had 
coaxed them home. When the 
King asked him who had brought 
them back, he told him it was one of 
the handsome young Princes who 
had tried in vain. But the truth 
97 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


could not be kept back, for too many 
people had seen what Nial had done; 
and his friends soon found means 
to tell the King. They told him 
also how wicked the high chamber- 
lain was, and the King was very 
angry and commanded the hive of 
bewitched bees and the milk cow to 
be restored at once to Bridget, to- 
gether with the purse of gold which 
the chamberlain had kept from her. 
Then he banished the high cham- 
berlain himself to a wattled hut in a 
far-off corner of the kingdom, and 
ordered that he was to have nothing 
but thin porridge and water to live 
on the rest of his life. 

Nevertheless, though the King 
had tried to set things to rights with 
98 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 

Nial and his mother, he was very 
sad to think that the hand of the 
beautiful Princess was promised to 
a poor ragged lad; and as for the 
Princess, she began to weep bitterly. 
At this the King, who could not 
bear to see her cry, said, “Never 
mind, my dear. ’Tis a poor lad he 
is, and I’ll warrant for a few bags 
of gold ’tis willing enough he’ll be 
to let me off from my promise ; and 
to make it sure. I’ll tell him plainly 
that if he marries you ’tis nothing 
at all he’ll be getting but a wife to 
support!” 

At this, the tears of the Princess 
broke out afresh, and the King, dis- 
tracted, sent at once for Nial. 

When the lad was brought into 
99 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


the palace, the King commanded 
that a large chest be placed before 
him, and then told him to lift the lid. 
When Nial did so, he opened his 
eyes wide, for it was filled with the 
finest golden torques and bracelets, 
besides bags of gold and jewels, 
“Nial,” said the King, “if you free 
me from my promise to betroth the 
Princess, the chest is yours. But I 
will tell you plainly, lad,” and here 
the King frowned, “if ’tis the Prin- 
cess you are set on having, not a 
penny goes with her, and ’tis only a 
wife to support you will be getting.” 

On hearing this, Nial, turning up 
his nose at the chest full of gold, fell 
on his knees before the beautiful 
Princess, just as he had knelt to the 


100 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 


fairy queen, and smiling up at her, 

“Bedad, Ma’am,” he said, “if it’s 
willing to marry me ye are, why, as 
for yonder torques and bags of gold, 
the King, your father, may toss them 
into the sea for all I’ll be caring! 
It’s my stout two hands that will 
work for ye, and ’tis I that will wait 
on ye like as if ye were the fairy 
Queen herself!” 

To the surprise of everybody, 
when Nial began to speak the Prin- 
cess had quickly dried her eyes ; and 
when he finished, in spite of his 
ragged coat he looked so bold and 
handsome with his yellow hair and 
his ruddy cheeks and merry blue 
eyes, and he lifted his head so 
proudly, that the beautiful Princess 
lOI 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


smiled back at him. Putting out 
both her hands, “Nial,” she said, 
“ ’tis yourself and nobody else I’ll 
be marrying, and the torques and 
bracelets and bags of gold may go 
to the bottom of the sea for all I’ll 
be caring either!” 

At the speech of the Princess 
everybody stared in amazement; and 
the King, being good-natured and 
easy-going, laughed outright when 
he saw how things were turning out 
and that the Princess was happy. 
“Well, well,” he said, “so be it! 
And ’tis changing my mind I’ll be 
about the Princess having no 
dowry.” Then he told Nial to pick 
from the chest the handsomest 
torques and bracelets for himself 


102 


HOW NIAL WON THE PRINCESS 

and Bridget, and he commanded the 
court tailors and dress-makers to set 
to work on the finest clothes for 
them; and when these were finished 
he ordered a grand feast, and Nial 
and the Princess were solemnly be- 
trothed. The Princess wore a gown 
of white velvet sewn with pearls, 
and carried a bouquet of the wonder- 
ful yellow flowers from the meadow ; 
and while the betrothal was going 
on, the two cuckoos came and 
perched, one on her shoulder and 
one on Nial’s, and sang as if they 
would burst their throats. 

In due time, when Nial was 
grown to a fine strong young man 
and the Princess was more beauti- 
ful than ever, they had a splendid 
103 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


wedding and lived happily ever 
after. And proud enough the 
King and Queen were to have so 
brave and handsome a son. 

This is the story of how Nial won 
the beautiful Princess, and of how 
the first cuckoos came to Ireland. 


104 


THE WISHING-SPRING 













THE WISHING-SPRING 


T was Midsummer Eve, 
and the Irish meadows 
glimmered green and 
flowery beyond a little 
cabin close to a grass-grown road. 
It had clay walls and a roof thatched 
with straw, and near by were a po- 
tato-patch and a pen holding a white 
pig with a curly tail; in the door- 
yard a few hens were clucking, now 
and then straggling in and out of 
the open door as they pleased. 

Within the cabin a little girl was 
tending a baby, while her mother 
stirred a pot of porridge hanging 
over an open fire of peat, and her 
107 



WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


father sat smoking his pipe beside 
the hearth. Presently, “Come now, 
Biddy!” said her mother. “Bring 
Peter here whilst we have a bite and 
sup. ’Tis to the bonfire soon your 
father would be going.” And she 
took the baby on her lap, and dished 
the porridge into earthen bowls, and 
poured the tea from a cracked tea- 
pot. 

As Biddy took up her wooden 
spoon, “Mother,” she asked, “did 
ever ye see the midsummer fairies?” 

“Bedad, no!” said her mother. 
“Not I ! But folks do say the little 
people will be creeping out and 
playing of their pranks tomorrow.” 

“Yes,” said Biddy’s father, nod- 
ding his head wisely, “and some say 


THE WISHING-SPRING 

their magic begins this night. I 
dare say they will soon be dancing 
with the young folks around the 
bonfire, if only we could be seeing 
of them.” 

Here Peter, who had got a spoon- 
ful of hot tea when his mother was 
not looking, began to scream, and 
cried so hard that Biddy could ask 
no more questions; and her father, 
not waiting for him to stop, took 
his cap and went across the meadow 
to a hill where a bonfire was already 
lighted, and young people were 
dancing around it and singing at 
the tops of their voices. 

Why were they doing it? Dear 
me, I do not know, except that they 
always did so on Midsummer Eve — 
109 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


and perhaps do now, for all I can 
tell. Neither do I know why Irish 
folks declare that on Midsummer 
Day, which is the twenty-fourth of 
June, the fairies — or “little people,” 
as they like to call them — ^will creep 
out from under the fields and hills, 
where they have beautiful palaces, 
and play around above ground, 
where they may do one a good or ill 
turn, according to whether they are 
pleased or not. Folks say, too, that 
the fairies swim about in certain lit- 
tle bubbling springs of Ireland, and 
that, if you sip the water from one 
of these on Midsummer Day and 
make a wish, at the same time offer- 
ing some gift the fairies like, they 
will surely cause the wish to come 


no 


THE WISHING-SPRING 


true. Why they say all these things, 
as I told you before, I am sure I can- 
not tell; but, as everybody agrees 
that Ireland has always been a fine 
place for fairies, I dare say the peo- 
ple there know a great deal about 
them. It might even be that, if you 
look sharp on the twenty-fourth of 
June, you may see some fairies in 
this country. Mind, I do not say 
you will; but then, neither do I say 
you won’t! 

Now, of course Biddy had heard 
much of the little people, and she 
could not understand why, though 
there was a “wishing-spring” not far 
from the cabin, and she had tried it 
for two Midsummer Days, her wish 
had not come true. The trouble 


III 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 

was that she did not know about tak- 
ing a gift of the right kind for the 
fairies. But the day of our story 
she had found out. That afternoon 
a very wise old woman had chanced 
to come hobbling along the road by 
the cabin and had stopped to rest, 
and Biddy had brought her a drink 
from the spring and had fallen to 
talking with her. It was she who 
told Biddy that there were five kinds 
of herbs which, though just ordi- 
nary plants at other times, became 
magical on Midsummer Eve; and, 
if their flowers were gathered then 
under the light of a full moon, a 
bunch of them offered to the fairies 
would please them so that they 
would not fail to grant any wish. 

1 12 


THE WISHING-SPRING 


When Biddy heard this, she made 
up her mind to get some that very 
night, when the moon would be full, 
and the next day to try the wishing- 
spring again. And she had a very 
good chance to go and gather them; 
for, when Peter at last stopped cry- 
ing and went to sleep, her mother 
was so worn out with him that, 
throwing herself down on the bed 
beside him, she was soon sound 
asleep, too. Then, softly opening 
the door, Biddy ran to the meadow. 
The moon had risen, and it was so 
light that she had little trouble in 
finding what she wanted; for the 
meadow was full of wild flowers. 
“There,” said she presently, count- 
ing to herself, “I have a rose, and 

113 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


vervain, and trefoil, and St. John’s- 
wort, and meadow-rue — that’s the 
five; and it’s a sprig of honeysuckle 
I’ll be putting in for the nice smell 
of it, and ’tis sure I am the little peo- 
ple will like it, too, even if it’s not 
magical!” And she sniffed the 
sweet cluster as she tucked it into her 
nosegay. Then, hurrying home, 
she put the flowers in a pitcher of 
water and crept into bed. 

The next morning, just as soon 
as she had her breakfast of porridge 
and before Peter had wakened up 
to be tended, taking her nosegay 
she ran to the wishing-spring and, 
kneeling beside it, began dabbling 
it in the water. Just then, “Och, 
Biddy !” called out a red-haired boy 
114 


THE WISHING-SPRING 

who had come up behind her. “Are 
ye after trying the wishing-spring 
again? The fairies won’t heed ye !” 

“Whisht, Pat!” said she, looking 
up at the boy, who was her good 
friend and playmate. “You just 
watch and see now I” 

“What will ye be wishing this 
time, Biddy?” asked Pat, coming 
nearer to the spring. 

“Silly!” said Biddy. “It’s well 
enough ye know that, if I tell, ’tis 
spoilt the wish will be !” Here she 
stooped low over the spring and, 
loosening the nosegay, let it float 
about, as, scooping up some water 
in her hand, she sipped it and whis- 
pered softly, so Pat could not hear; 
“ ’Tis a beautiful Princess I’m wish- 

115 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


ing to be, and wearing of a velvet 
gown and a pearl necklace, and to 
be living in a grand castle and 
marrying of a king’s son !” 

Then, as she and Pat peered into 
the bubbling water, “Look ! Look !” 
cried Biddy. “There is one of the 
little people now! See him down 
there in the sand playing with the 
bubbles? It’s a red cap he’s wear- 
ing and a blue coat! Oh, Pat, 
there’s another — a little lady fairy!” 

Pat stared open-mouthed, and, 
“Biddy,” he began, — but all at once 
she seemed fading away from him, 
and on her part she could no longer 
see Pat. Tall stone walls began to 
rise around her ; higher and higher 
they grew, into a castle tower; and 
Ii6 



“‘look! look!’ cried biddy, ‘there is one of the 

LITTLE PEOPLE NOW ! 


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THE WISHING-SPRING 

soon she found herself in a large 
room, all hung with wonderful em- 
broidered silk, and furnished with 
carved chairs and tables and chests, 
such as Biddy had never seen the 
like of before. She was sitting on a 
kind of throne, richly carved and 
cushioned with cloth of gold. 
Looking down at her feet, which 
had been bare, she saw she was wear- 
ing golden slippers worked with 
pearls, and, instead of her ragged 
dress, she had on one of purple vel- 
vet, stiff with gold thread. Around 
her throat was a necklace of pearls, 
and on her head she could feel a fine 
lace cap. Her hair was braided 
with strands of jewels, and her eyes 
were very bright and her cheeks 
117 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


glowing; though Biddy had really 
been pretty enough before, with her 
tangled black curls and eyes of Irish 
blue. Indeed, Pat thought her quite 
as beautiful as any Princess; though, 
to be sure, he had never seen a 
King’s daughter. 

When Biddy looked around her 
she saw six handsomely dressed wait- 
ing-maids standing on each side of 
her, and a very grand-looking lady 
who seemed to be directing them. 
Soon one of them came and, bow- 
ing very low, said, “Will Your 
Highness be served with breakfast 
now?” 

Biddy, you remember, had already 
had her porridge ; but, as Princesses 
are not expected to get up so early, 
ii8 


THE WISHING-SPRING 


she thought best not to mention it; 
so she just nodded her head, and at 
once they brought in a golden tray 
and set it before her. There was 
fine white bread, milk in a golden 
goblet, a golden bowl full of barley 
porridge covered with honey, and a 
number of other things of which 
Biddy did not even know the names. 
She awkwardly picked up a gold 
spoon and dipped it in the porridge. 
But she was staring around so hard 
that, instead of putting it into her 
mouth, it bumped against her nose, 
and all the porridge fell in her lap ; 
and then, as she put down the spoon 
in dismay, over went the goblet of 
milk on top of the rest. “Musha!” 
she cried. “ ’Tis my grand velvet 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


gown that is all spoilt ! Och ! 
Och!” 

But most of the waiting-maids 
only stared in surprise, though some 
tittered a bit till frowned on by the 
grand lady. Then one of them, 
again bowing, said, “Will Your 
Highness have on another gown be- 
fore time for lessons? The mas- 
ters will soon be here.” 

Biddy, turning red and feeling 
very uncomfortable, faltered out, 
“Yes, mam. Bedad, and it’s sorry I 
am to be a-spoiling of this !” And 
she looked down shame-facedly at 
the purple velvet all dripping with 
milk and porridge. 

At this, the waiting-maids could 
hardly keep from laughing outright, 
120 


THE WISHING-SFRING 


as they led her to a fine bedroom and 
put on her another velvet dress — 
this time a crimson one and, like the 
other, very stiff with embroidery and 
reaching nearly to the floor, which 
was the fashion for little girl Prin- 
cesses. 

Then they took her back to the 
big room, and again she sat on the 
throne-like chair, which was begin- 
ning to feel rather straight and hard, 
in spite of its rich carving and heavy 
cushions. 

Presently in came the spelling- 
master — a solemn-looking man with 
a large book in his hand. At the 
sight of this Biddy was decidedly 
frightened, for she had never been 
to school a day in her life; there 
I2I 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


were no places in Ireland then where 
children who lived in cabins might 
be taught. “Now, Your High- 
ness,” said the spelling-master, open- 
ing the book and bowing as had the 
others, “will you deign to spell 
‘cat’?” 

“Oh sir!” gasped Biddy. “Is it 
me that must be spelling of cat? 
’Tis only priests, sir, that can read 
the mass-book, that can do hard 
things like that!” 

The spelling-master looked per- 
plexed, and, after talking a few min- 
utes with the grand lady, the latter 
came and said respectfully, but 
rather sternly, “Your Highness, if 
you will not learn to spell, how then 
can you read? And then there are 


122 


THE WISHING-SPRING 


your music- and drawing-masters 
waiting.” 

“Musha ! Musha ! ma’am !” cried 
Biddy in despair. “And is it all 
such things Princesses must be do- 
ing of? I — I didn’t know, ma’am, 
King’s daughters had to work the 
likes of that! Why, I’d rather— 
rather be a-tending of Peter!” 

At Biddy’s speech the grand lady 
looked very stern indeed, and stared 
very hard; but she only said, “Very 
well. Your Highness. I will dis- 
miss your masters for today. And 
what are your commands for 
the morning, in place of the les- 
sons?” 

Biddy was silent a while, and then 
she said faintly, “If you please, 

123 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


ma’am, I’d — I’d like to play, I 
would!” 

The grand lady brightened up 
then, and said, “Does Your High- 
ness mean to keep your music-mas- 
ter here and play on your harp?” 

“Oh dear, no, ma’am!” answered 
Biddy, frightened again. “ ’Tis to 
play outdoors I’m meaning! Tag 
and ball it is, and games like Pat 
and I know!” 

The grand lady stiffened up 
again, and, turning to the twelve 
waiting-maids, said coldly, “Con- 
duct the Princess to the garden. 
She wishes to play ball and tag.” 
And Biddy’s cheeks burned, the 
way she said it. 

She followed meekly as the wait- 
124 


THE WISHING-SPRING 

ing-maids led the way down a wind- 
ing stair — which made her quite 
dizzy, as she had never before been 
on stairs — and out into a large 
garden. There were fountains in 
it, and very fine flowers; but the 
flowers were all in straight stiff beds 
and did not look as if meant to be 
picked. As Biddy gazed at them, 
she could not but think she liked the 
meadow ones better. Then nobody 
but herself knew how to play tag, 
and the waiting-maids looked very 
scornful when she tried to show 
them; and, when she wanted to run, 
her long heavy dress was terribly in 
her way ; while, as for the gold slip- 
pers, they tripped her up so she 
tumbled down twice, and the wait- 

125 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


ing-maids laughed out loud at her. 
“Bedad!” moaned Biddy to herself. 
“ ’Tis the feel of the grass under my 
toes that I’m wanting!” For never 
had she worn shoes, except thick 
calfskin ones in winter, and she was 
quite unused to the high heels of 
slippers for Princesses. Then, too, 
she soon found that in the game of 
tag the waiting-maids never tagged 
her, because it was not considered 
proper for Princesses to be beaten 
in any game; and, of course, that 
took all the fun away. 

Biddy soon tired of playing like 
that, and she sat down on a stone 
bench to think; though it was not 
very easy to think with twelve tit- 
tering waiting-maids standing stiffly 
126 


THE WISHING-SPRING 

behind her. Biddy could hear 
them, and the more they tittered the 
angrier she grew; till presently, in 
quite a rage, she tore off her lace cap 
and — I’m sorry to tell it, but she 
threw it down and stamped on it. 
Then she kicked off the golden slip- 
pers, and pulled off her fine silk 
stockings, and, running to a foun- 
tain near by, flung them all in; and 
then she sat on the edge of it and 
cried. “Och! Och!” she wailed, 
as the tears streamed down her 
cheeks. “If only ye were a wish- 
ing-spring and I could wish again!” 

In a moment a sweet, tinkling lit- 
tle voice seemed to come from un- 
der a water-lily in the fountain, and 
then a tiny fairy crept out and sat 
127 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


on the big green leaf of the lily. It 
was the same little lady she had seen 
in the wishing-spring that morning. 
“There, there, child!” said the fairy, 
smiling kindly. “I have been 
watching you today; for I won- 
dered how you would like being a 
Princess. If you want to wish 
again, you may.” 

“Oh, ma’am,” cried Biddy eag- 
erly, “I wish I was back in the Cabin 
again, and — and ’tis barefooted I’m 
wanting to go, and to be tending of 
Peter and feeding of the pig, and 
playing in the meadow with Pat— 
and never, never to be a Princess 
again so long as ever I live I” 

And, of course, the good fairy 
made Biddy’s wish come true, and 
128 


THE WISHING-SPRING 

she became a ragged, happy little 
girl as before ; and, when they grew 
up, she forgot all about the King’s 
son she had once wanted to marry, 
and married Pat instead; and of 
course, too, they lived happily ever 
after. 


129 


THE GOOD YEAR 







THE GOOD YEAR 


UPPER was over, the 
pewter porringers and 
platter put back on the 
dresser shelves, and the 
curtains drawn over the farmhouse 
windows so as to keep out the chill 
wind; for it was the very last of De- 
cember, and in Norway the winter 
nights are always long and cold. 

Grandfather was sitting on the 
big settle close to the hearth, and 
Arne and Olga had crept up, one on 
either side of him. It was the time 
when they loved to talk to him, or 
perhaps listen to a story or two be- 
fore going to their queer little beds, 

133 



WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


which were built into the wall, like 
cupboards, their polished doors 
open now and shining in the fire- 
light. 

Two red-cheeked apples were 
roasting on the hearth, and as the 
flames from the blazing logs leaped 
and flickered, they lighted up the 
brick oven beside the settle and the 
carved and painted rafters overhead. 
From these hung strands of onions, 
and dried herbs, and odd, flat loaves 
of bread, each with a hole through 
the middle and strung on a slender 
pole. Mingled with and half hid- 
ing these things, were the green holi- 
day garlands of pine, which still 
decked the house. The firelight 
flickered also on the gay wooden 

134 


THE GOOD YEAR 

cradle where baby Hilda lay sleep- 
ing, and on the deal table beyond, 
where stood a pretty fir-tree that had 
shed its Christmas gifts but was still 
bright with tinsel and paper flowers. 

The children’s father and mother 
had gone to the village church for 
the last service of the year, and as 
now Arne and Olga drew closer to 
Grandfather, they all sat dreaming 
a while, and then Arne spoke; 
“Grandfather,” he said, “it is nearly 
another year, isn’t it?” 

“Yes, lad,” answered Grand- 
father, 

“And,” went on Arne, “you must 
remember ever so many New 
Years?” 

“Yes, indeed!” agreed Grand- 
135 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 

father, with a half-sad smile ; for he 
was very old and his hair was quite 
white. “Would you like me to tell 
you about some New Year I remem- 
ber?” 

“Oh yes, please do!” put in Olga, 
and Grandfather, stroking her yel- 
low curls, began to think. 

“Well, well,” he said presently, 
“I will tell you about the one we vil- 
lage folk (you know I lived in the 
village then) called ‘The Good 
Year.’ That was long and long 
ago,” he added, with a sigh. “I 
must have seen fifty others since that 
one.” Then, brightening up, he 
went on: “It was the thirty-first of 
December, just like now, and at 
midnight the little New Year lay 

136 



THE LITTLE NEW YEAR LAY ROCKING IN HIS CRADLE UP 
IN THE SKY ’ ” 




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THE GOOD YEAR 


rocking in his cradle up in the sky.” 

“Was it like Hilda’s, with tulips 
painted on the rockers and blue- 
birds on the sides?” asked Glga. 

“Why, yes,” said Grandfather, “I 
dare say it was, only finer. Maybe 
it was made of gold like the stars, 
or silver like the moon; I am not 
sure. But at any rate, suddenly the 
little New Year sat up listening. 
There was a great shrieking of 
whistles and ringing of church- 
bells. ‘Boom! Boom!’ drums 
were being beaten by the young 
men watching with the old bell- 
ringer up in the belfry, and every- 
where rose a confused sound of 
shouting voices, though he could 
make out the words, ‘Happy New 

137 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


Year! Happy New Year! W e 
wish you a happy New Year!’ 

“The little New Year laughed 
merrily. ‘Ho! Ho!’ he cried. ‘It 
is time I was flying down there to 
earth. They seem to be giving me 
a hearty welcome, and hoping I will 
be happy. Well, I am sure I mean 
to be!’ And again he laughed, as 
flinging off his starry coverlid, he 
sprang from his cradle and began 
fluttering his pretty white wings, 
that glistened like the little wings 
one sees in pictures of baby angels. 

“But before he could fly to the 
earth, two heavy objects thrust them- 
selves, one in either hand. The first 
was a big, old-fashioned scythe, and 
the other an hour-glass, in which 

138 


THE GOOD YEAR 


the golden-brown sand was already 
beginning to trickle from one half 
to the other.” 

“Why did he have those things 
to carry?” asked Arne. 

“That was what the little New 
Year wanted to know,” replied 
Grandfather. “He frowned, and 
tried to let go of them, but he could 
not. ‘Not so fast, young sir!’ said 
the scythe. ‘You must take me 
along!’ ” 

“ ‘But why?’ asked the little New 
Year, in surprise. 

“ ‘Because,’ answered the scythe, 
‘all the years since the beginning of 
the world have carried me. You 
see, down there on earth a certain 
number of people must die every 

139 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


year, and it is your business once in 
a while to swing me, just as a mower 
cutting grass in the meadow; and 
when you do, the people will die, 
just as the grass and flowers wither 
away after the mowing.’ 

“ ‘But,’ cried the little New Year, 
shrinking back, for he was a 
kindly little soul, ‘I do not want 
to make anybody die! Why must 
I?’ 

“ ‘That I cannot tell,’ answered 
the scythe, after a moment’s pause. 
‘But it seems to be the way of the 
world, and you cannot escape it. 
However, when you reach the earth, 
you can put me down between 
whiles; for I know I am heavy to 
carry, and of course you mustn’t 
140 


THE GOOD YEAR 


be swinging me all the time, or there 
would be nobody left there.’ 

“The little New Year frowned 
again, but said no more. But when 
he looked at the hour-glass, he 
smiled. ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘when I get 
to a good place, I will empty it out 
and make a fine sand pile to play 
in!’ 

“ ‘Indeed you will not I’ said the 
hour-glass. ‘You must take me 
along, for I am very important to 
you. My sand is divided into 
twelve parts, one for each month, 
and when they have all run from 
one half of me to the other, your 
time is up, and you must die, just 
like everybody else. My January 
sand is already trickling down, so 
141 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 

you had better hurry up with your 
work.’ 

‘“Dear me!’ said the little New 
Year, looking a trifle blank, ‘My 
baggage is surely not very cheerful 1 
But never mind, perhaps in twelve 
months I shall be tired of tugging 
these things around, and quite ready 
to stop.’ And with a brave little 
cry, ‘Come on, January !’ he plunged 
straight down to earth, a gust of 
white, sparkling snowflakes whirl- 
ing around him as he went.” 

‘‘Where did he land?” asked 
Arne. 

“Why,” said Grandfather, “that 
was the odd part of it. It was right 
in our village, which happened, to 
be just underneath his cradle.” 

142 


THE GOOD YEAR 


“Did you see him?” inquired 
Olga. 

“No,” replied Grandfather. 
“Didn’t I tell you that he had on a 
cap that made him and his scythe 
and glass invisible to everybody but 
babies? You know babies always 
like each other, and so little New 
Years always smile when they see 
one. You just watch Hilda tomor- 
row and see if you don’t find her 
looking into the air and laughing 
as if she saw another baby. Of 
course,” added Grandfather, “I have 
lived through so many years, that 
once in a while, when perhaps their 
caps have tumbled off for a minute, 
I have caught a glimpse of them, 
but not often. 


143 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


“Well, as I was telling you, the 
little New Year came straight to our 
village. To be sure, he had to fly 
all over the world and see that it was 
January everywhere, and attend to 
all manner of affairs, but years are 
wonderfully quick about things, so 
he could do his work in a twinkling 
and still have a good deal of time 
to spend with us. I think he spe- 
cially liked our village because it 
was so pretty and peaceful and was 
the first place he came to on earth. 
Of course, too, that first morning he 
felt very important, for everybody 
was going around, calling on each 
other, and talking about him, and 
eating sugar-cake and drinking 
elderberry wine in his honor. 

144 


THE GOOD YEAR 


“The children all got out their 
sleds, some of them brand new from 
Santa Claus and with the red paint 
still fresh and bright, and how they 
all laughed and shouted! And all 
the while, though none of them 
knew it, the little New Year was 
romping with them. Sometimes 
when they dragged their sleds 
up hill, they wondered what made 
them so heavy, never dreaming 
that the little New Year had 
jumped on them; and often, 
when they thought it was passing 
sleigh-bells, it was really his 
merry, silvery laughter that they 
heard.” 

“I should think he would have 
been pretty heavy to pull up hill 

145 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


with that big scythe and hour- 
glass!” said Olga. 

“Well,” said Grandfather, “he 
didn’t carry the scythe all the time, 
but put it down whenever he could. 
Old Lars Anderson declared that as 
he came through the forest that day 
he saw a queer old-fashioned scythe 
hanging on an oak tree. But one 
never could be quite sure of what 
old Lars said, though of course the 
scythe might have been there and 
become visible when the little New 
Year let go of it. 

“And it wasn’t only the children 
the little New Year played with. 
When he got tired of romping with 
them, he flew to the pond at the edge 
of the village, where the young men 
146 


THE GOOD YEAR 


and girls were skimming by on their 
shining skates. There, with his sil- 
very laugh, he would tuck up his 
little white mantle, and sliding 
along in his little bare feet, — for he 
did not mind the cold — pouf! he 
would push against some flying 
couple who thought themselves the 
finest skaters in the world, and over 
they would tumble, wondering how 
it could possibly have happened! 
Sometimes he would mischievously 
put his hour-glass down in front of 
them, and bump! over they would 
go! But they were always well 
wrapped up in thick coats and furs, 
so nobody was hurt, and their peals 
of merry laughter only added to the 
fun. 


147 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 

“Then in the long January even- 
ings, when the young folks of the 
village would gather together and 
dance, and play blind-man’s-buff, 
and twirl-the-platter, and cut-the- 
oats, the little New Year would 
often be there playing with them, 
and nobody knew, only that then 
they always had the best times of all. 

“When the January sand was all 
run out and February began, the 
New Year was no longer so little, 
but growing very fast. Still he 
frolicked with the children, and 
caused the snow that fell to be so 
very moist and soft that never were 
there finer snow-men than the boys 
and girls made. Often when they 
were rolling the big balls for these, 
148 


THE GOOD YEAR 


they wondered that they grew so 
fast and that it was so easy to push 
them along. That was because the 
New Year was helping them. And 
then, when a snow-man was fin- 
ished, and, running into the house, 
they would bring out bits of charred 
fagots from the hearth and make 
two black eyes for his round white 
face and perhaps find a clay pipe for 
his mouth, the New Year would 
laugh like a chime of sleigh-bells.” 

“The snow-man we made yester- 
day has eyes like that, and a pipe,” 
said Arne, “only it was hard to make 
him stay together; the snow was so 
dry.” 

“Ah, ha !” said Grandfather, with 
a twinkle in his eye, “so that is what 
149 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


has become of my pipe? I missed 
it today.” 

Arne reddened, “But Grand- 
father,” he said, “you know it was 
only your old pipe; we thought 
maybe, as it was holiday time, you 
would be smoking your good one.” 

“To be sure,” said Grandfather, 
good-naturedly, though he really 
liked the old one best. “You may 
bring it to me now, Arne.” 

The little boy slid from his seat 
and, running to a shelf, took down 
the pipe with a wonderful silver lid 
and two tassels of scarlet and green. 
Grandfather carefully filled it, and 
lighting it with a coal from the 
hearth, puffed slowly two or three 
times before he replied to Olga’s 
150 


THE GOOD YEAR 


question, “But what else did the 
New Year do?” 

“Well,” he said presently, “he did 
a great many things. Sometimes 
he amused himself by piling up the 
snow on all the forest trees, and the 
thatched roofs in the village, and the 
gate-posts and well-sweeps till it 
looked as if the whole world was 
made of white flakes. But the pret- 
tiest thing of all that he did was to 
fly about at night and cover every- 
thing with ice, so that in the morn- 
ing, when the sun shone, the bright- 
ness everywhere was like the daz- 
zling light of millions of diamonds. 
Of course other years have done this 
also, and you children have seen 
these wonderful icy mornings, but 

151 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


never were there so many, or such 
magic ones, as in the time of The 
Good Year. And then, when the 
nights were clear and starry, he 
loved to get Jack Frost, and be- 
tween them such beautiful white 
pictures as they painted on our vil- 
lage windows!” 

“Did you see our windows today. 
Grandfather?” asked Olga. “One 
of them had a frost picture of a 
mountain and a river, and some 
houses, and a little pasture all full 
of woolly sheep 1” 

“Yes,” said Arne, “and we heated 
a copper penny at the hearth, and 
played that we burned down the 
houses when we held it on them and 
melted a hole to see through I” 

152 


THE GOOD YEAR 


Grandfather smiled gently as he 
puffed slowly at his pipe, still think- 
ing of The Good Year. Then he 
went on, “When March came with 
his blustering winds. The Good 
Year saw to it that they blew only the 
dead limbs from the forest trees, so 
there were always plenty of fagots 
and even the poorest village people 
could keep blazing fires on their 
hearths. Then, by and by, the 
April sands began to run; and The 
Good Year — for by this time people 
no longer called him the New Year, 
but had begun already to give him 
the name he afterward went by — 
breathed a warm breath over the 
earth, and * Crack! Crack!' the ice 
began to melt and break in the river 

153 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


and crash over the cataract in great 
glittering sheets. Then everywhere 
the buds started to swell, till puf! 
out burst the cherry blossoms, and, 
by and by, the pear and apple 
bloom.” 

At this, “Oh!” said Olga, “I al- 
most forgot our apples!” And, 
jumping down from the settle, she 
went to the dresser and taking two 
of the pewter porringers and put- 
ting into them the roasted apples, 
their red skins fairly bursting with 
savory juice, she gave one to Arne, 
— for Grandfather did not wish any 
— and with the other for herself, 
climbed back to her place. As the 
children slowly dipped their spoons 
into the porringers, enjoying their 

154 


THE GOOD YEAR 


holiday treat, Grandfather went on, 
“The trees were a sight, the pink 
and white flowers so thick on every 
bough that there was hardly room 
for them to burst open. The vil- 
lage folk all said, ‘See, what a won- 
derful year for fruit!’ Then one 
day, when The Good Year was off 
attending to matters in a distant 
part of the world, along came Jack 
Frost meaning to play an evil trick. 

“He had grown jealous of hear- 
ing The Good Year praised, and de- 
termined to do something to injure 
his fair name. He had made up his 
mind to nip all the pretty blossoms 
so they could not grow, and no one 
that season would have any pears or 
apples or cherries. At dusk of that 
155 


WHEN FAIRIES WEEE FRIENDLY 

day all the village knew that he had 
come, for he made the air so cold; 
and then, when the stars began to 
twinkle, they were in despair, be- 
cause Jack Frost always chooses 
starry nights for his work. 

“But just as he was about to blight 
all the pink and white trees. The 
Good Year came flying back, and 
seizing him by his shining coat, — it 
looked like white wool, but was all 
made of hoar-frost — he shook him 
soundly. ‘Jack Frost,’ he said, ‘I 
thought you were my friend; but 
you are a wicked fellow to slip here 
while I was away, and try to do this 
evil deed ! It is all right for you to 
make the grass and trees sparkle on 
autumn mornings and to paint the 

156 


THE GOOD YEAR 


window-panes in winter, but you 
know very well you have no busi- 
ness to show yourself when the April 
sand is running in my hour-glass, 
and you shall not spoil my village 
people’s fruit-trees ! Now go away!’ 
And with that he shook him again, 
and then putting him down, he 
swayed his hour-glass so the April 
sand was stirred, and at once a cloud 
came and a warm rain began to fall, 
and Jack Frost ran away as fast as 
he could, for fear he would melt, 
and he dared not show himself again 
till autumn.” 

“I am glad Jack Frost didn’t nip 
our apple-tree this year I” said Arne, 
as he dipped up the last spoonful 
from his porringer. “You know he 

157 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


did the spring before, Grandfather, 
and we had no apples.” 

“Yes,” said Grandfather, “I re- 
member. After The Good Year 
chased him away, he was afraid to 
show himself in the spring for a 
long time. Then came some bad 
years, who let him do as he pleased, 
and since then he has been growing 
tricky again, and one never knows 
just what he will do.” 

“Go on about The Good Year,” 
said Olga, as she put down the por- 
ringers. 

“Well, let me see,” said Grand- 
father. “Oh yes, it was the May 
sand that soon began to run, and the 
woods were carpeted with big, blue 
violets on long pale green stems, 

158 


THE GOOD YEAR 


and golden cuckoo-buds, and white 
wind-flowers, and the children filled 
their May-baskets and hung them 
on everybody’s door. Then they 
went to the green and sang and 
danced around the May-pole which 
the village folk had raised and 
trimmed with gay garlands. And 
I remember how pretty little Elsa, 
the apothecary’s daughter, looked as 
she danced in her white sprigged 
frock and red shoes ; and how Hend- 
rick, the parson’s little boy, held 
her hand tightly all the while and 
danced with her and looked at her 
as if he thought her sweeter than a 
Christmas sugar-plum ! That was a 
great Maytime for fairy rings, too; 
every day the big meadow would be 

159 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


full of the tall circles of deep green 
grass showing where the fairies had 
danced by moonlight ; and you know 
when the fairies dance a great deal 
it always means a lucky season.” 

“I wish I could see some fairies !” 
said Olga wistfully. 

“Bless me!” cried Grandfather, 
in surprise. “Have you never? 
Why, I had seen a number when 
I was no bigger than you. Of 
course I can’t see them now, because 
it’s only to children the fairies ever 
show themselves.” 

“I saw one last summer,” said 
Arne. 

“Where?” asked Olga, enviously. 

“It was one day when I was going 
through the forest,” answered Arne, 
i6o 


THE GOOD YEAR 


“and under a big hemlock tree there 
was a tuft of moss and something 
bright that I thought was some kind 
of a flower I had never seen before. 
But when I came nearer, I saw it 
was a fairy sitting in a little spot of 
sunlight and singing all to him- 
self.” 

“How big was he?” asked Olga. 

“Why, I should think he would 
have been about half as high as my 
knee if he had stood up, and he had 
on a little green suit with a red cap 
and mantle. In a minute he spied 
me, and jumped away and hid 
under a toad-stool, and I went on 
and pretended not to see him, for I 
didn’t want to frighten him.” 

“That was right,” said Grand- 
161 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


father, “for fairies are generally 
kind, friendly little creatures, and it 
would be a pity to frighten them. 
It is pretty to see them; and that 
fairy of yours, Arne, reminds me of 
one I saw when I was about your 
size. This one was sitting in the 
forest, too, only he was dressed all in 
sky-blue, and what do you suppose 
he was doing?” 

“I don’t know,” said Arne. 

“Well,” said Grandfather, “a 
white butterfly was resting on his 
knee, and the fairy had a dewy but- 
tercup in one hand, and a little wisp 
of grass like a paint-brush in the 
other. With this he was mixing the 
golden powder in the heart of the 
buttercup with the drops of dew and 
162 


THE GOOD YEAR 


painting the butterfly’s wings a 
beautiful bright yellow. I knew 
then where the pretty yellow butter- 
flies came from.” 

“Do you think the fairies paint 
all the butterflies?” asked Olga. 

“I have no doubt of it,” answered 
Grandfather. And then, as the 
little wreaths of smoke floated up- 
ward from his pipe, he went on. 
“But I haven’t finished yet about 
The Good Year. You know his 
June sand was beginning to run and 
he was fairly well grown by that 
time; for years have to grow very 
fast, as they are always quite old at 
the end of the twelve months. So, 
as the year had passed his childhood, 
he was more interested in the doings 

163 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 

of the young people than of the boys 
and girls as he had been at first. 

“When the roses were all in 
bloom and midsummer night came, 
there was a full moon, and all the 
young folks went to dance on the 
village green where the May-pole 
had been. It was a fine sight, the 
girls looking so handsome in their 
holiday bodices and starched petti- 
coats, and their gay flowered ker- 
chiefs and embroidered aprons; and 
the young men in their velvet jack- 
ets and knee breeches with silver 
braid and buttons. 

“The Good Year watched them 
for a while, and then he quietly flew 
over to the church and into the bel- 
fry where the big bell was hanging. 
164 


THE GOOD YEAR 


‘My friend/ he said, ‘you have a fine 
deep voice, and I remember how 
musically you rang the night I was 
born. And I have heard you call- 
ing the people to church on Sun- 
days. But are there not other things 
for which you ring?’ 

“ ‘Yes,’ answered the bell, slowly 
and softly, ‘I sometimes toll for fu- 
nerals.’ 

“ ‘No, no!’ cried The Good Year 
quickly, with a sudden frown, ‘that 
is not what I mean! You shall not 
toll again so long as I live! You 
know I have never used my scythe 
in this village, and I never shall.’ 

“And didn’t he. Grandfather?” 
asked Arne, opening his eyes. 

“No,” said Grandfather, “that 

i6s 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 

was the strange thing ! Not a single 
person in the village died that whole 
year ! Such a thing has never hap- 
pened before or since, and wasn’t 
that reason enough to call him ‘The 
Good Year’? Of course he had to 
use his scythe somewhere in the 
world, but it seemed he could not 
bear to harm any one in our village. 
So when he said to the bell that he 
would not hear it toll, it was dumb 
with amazement, but soon recovered 
itself and tinkled, as with soft laugh- 
ter, when he asked again, ‘But is 
there not something else for which 
you ring?’ 

“ ‘To be sure,’ answered the bell, 
‘there are weddings !’ 

“ ‘That is it !’ said The Good Year, 

i66 


THE GOOD YEAR 


in a pleased tone. ‘I want to hear 
you peal for a wedding. Is it pos- 
sible that none of those handsome 
young people down there on the 
green are thinking of such a 
thing?’ 

“ ‘Of course they are !’ answered 
the bell. ‘I know of several young 
couples who would like nothing 
better. But none of them are ready 
yet to marry, except Jan Viborg 
down there — that tall, awkward fel- 
low in the green jacket — and Frieda, 
the school-master’s daughter, — he is 
dancing with her now; she is the 
prettiest girl in the village’ — 

“Jan Viborg, and Frieda?” inter- 
rupted Olga, sitting up straight. 
“Why, Grandfather, that was your 
167 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


name, and — and Grandmother s!” 

“Well, child,” went on Grand- 
father, with a dreamy smile, “per- 
haps it was, — but the bell wasn’t 
through talking. ‘Jan,’ it said, ‘has 
a small farm at the edge of the vil- 
lage, and he has built a little wooden 
house with his own hands, and has 
carved its beams and rafters and 
door-posts, and he has made carved 
chairs, and a bench, and table, and 
a clothes-press and dresser all ready 
to begin housekeeping; and Frie- 
da’s linen-chest is filled with fine 
things of her own spinning and 
weaving, and her bridal crown and 
silver necklace are all ready, and a 
wonderful embroidered apron for 
her wedding day, and yet they have 
i68 


THE GOOD YEAR 

not married though they have been 
betrothed these three years.’ 

“ ‘What is the matter?’ asked The 
Good Year. 

“ ‘Well,’ answered the bell, ‘Jan’s 
little farm is not quite paid for, and 
for two years the harvest has failed 
so he could not free the debt, and 
they have been afraid to marry till 
they knew this summer’s harvest 
would be plentiful.’ 

“ ‘Oh,’ said The Good Year, ‘if 
that is all that troubles them, they 
need have no fear ; I will see to the 
harvest.’ With that, he slyly caught 
hold of the bell-rope and softly rang 
a joyous peal or two, as for a wed- 
ding. 

“The young folks down on the 
169 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


green heard it, and stopped danc- 
ing, to listen. ‘Hark!’ they said, ‘it 
must be the midsummer fairies ring- 
ing the belli’ And then they 
laughed and chattered of the pranks 
the fairies play on midsummer 
night, — but Jan and Frieda took it 
for a luck sign; they pressed each 
other’s hands and looked into each 
other’s faces, and — well — never 
mind what they said, but all fear 
about the debt and the harvest van- 
ished, and it was settled the church- 
bell should really peal for a wed- 
ding in a week’s time.” 

“And did they have it then?” 
asked Arne. 

“Yes, indeed!” said Grandfather. 
“And never was there so beautiful 
170 


THE GOOD YEAR 


a bride as Frieda, or so proud and 
happy a bridegroom as Jan.” 

Grandfather still spoke of him- 
self that way, for looking back so 
many years to his own youth, it 
seemed to him almost like talking 
of some one else. 

“You know. Grandfather,” said 
Olga, “Mother keeps Grandmother 
Frieda’s bridal crown and necklace 
and embroidered apron in the chest 
yonder, and she says when I grow 
up and am married, I am to wear 
them, just as she and Grandmother 
did on their wedding days.” 

But Grandfather did not hear ; his 
thoughts had flown back to the time, 
scarcely more than a twelvemonth 
from his own wedding, when there 
171 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


came a cruel year who swung his 
scythe in the happy village, till at 
last the church-bell tolled for beauti- 
ful Frieda’s funeral, and Grand- 
father was left with her little 
baby girl, who was to grow up 
and be the mother of Arne and 
Olga. 

Grandfather’s eyes were misty 
with tears, but, straightening up, he 
hastily brushed them away so the 
children might not see them; and 
then stirring the ashes of his pipe, 
which he had quite forgotten for a 
while, with a brave smile he went 
on. “Of course F rieda and J an had 
a fine wedding feast for the village 
folk, and there was music and danc- 
ing all day long. The little chil- 
172 


THE GOOD YEAR 

dren, too, played and frolicked and 
enjoyed it all, and I must tell you 
what happened the very next day. 
You remember I told you how 
Hendrick, the parson’s son, and 
Elsa, the apothecary’s daughter, 
danced together around the May- 
pole? Well, Hendrick was eight 
years old and Elsa six, and they had 
been sweethearts ever since they 
could toddle. So the day after the 
wedding they decided they would 
like to be married too. The par- 
son’s children had a playhouse in 
the corner of the garden, and Hend- 
rick said they could live in that; 
then Elsa ran to her home and filled 
the pockets of her little apron with 
sugar buns which she said would do 

173 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


for their wedding cake, and they 
were all ready. 

“But when Hendrick went in to 
ask his father to marry them, the 
parson only laughed and told him to 
run out and play. Of course 
Hendrick was angry,” went on 
Grandfather, smiling a bit to him- 
self, “but Elsa told him not to mind 
it, for she had an uncle who was a 
parson and lived in the next village, 
only ten miles away. She said he 
always gave them sugar-plums at 
Christmas time and told them pretty 
stories, and she was quite sure he 
would marry them and not make 
fun of them. So, taking hold of 
hands, the poor little things set out. 

“Elsa did not know the way, only 

174 


THE GOOD YEAR 


that they must cross the river at the 
edge of the village. When they 
reached it, Hendrick looked about 
for a boat, and saw an old skiff, with 
one oar in it, tied to a tree on the 
bank. He managed to unfasten it, 
and they both climbed in and Hend- 
rick tried to lift the oar ; but he could 
do nothing with it, and the skiff be- 
gan to drift down the river.” 

"But the cataract, Grandfather?” 
interrupted Olga. "T hey might go 
over it!" 

“Yes,” said Grandfather, gravely, 
“that was just the trouble, for it 
would have been certain death. 
The skiff kept drifting nearer and 
nearer, and soon the children heard 
the roar of the falling water, and 

175 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


they were terribly frightened. Elsa 
began to scream, and a woodcutter 
in the forest beyond heard her, and 
throwing down his ax, he hurried 
toward the river. He was terror 
stricken when he saw the skiff with 
the two helpless children, for he had 
no boat, and even if he had had one, 
it seemed impossible to save them. 

“But just when the woodcutter 
had given up hope. The Good Year, 
who had been looking after the 
grain fields beyond the forest, came 
flying along and saw the danger.” 

“What did he do?” asked Arne. 

“Why,” replied Grandfather, “he 
quickly whirled his hour-glass 
round and round, just as he did 
when he caught Jack Frost, only 
176 


THE GOOD YEAR 


faster; and the June sand, which 
was running in a smooth stream, 
suddenly twisted and fell all topsy- 
turvy, and immediately a great fun- 
nel-like black cloud rolled up in the 
sky and a fierce blast of wind rushed 
up the river. Stronger and stronger 
it blew, till, with the force of a hur- 
ricane, catching the little skiff as 
if it were an egg-shell, it tossed it up 
on the bank and out jumped the 
children, not two yards from the 
brink of the cataract! The wood- 
cutter gathered them in his arms and 
carried them all the way home, 
though they were a good load. He 
said that when the wind blew along 
the river, the mist from the cataract 
rose like two great white wings; — 
177 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


he did not know it, but they were 
the wings of the The Good Year.” 

“I suppose his invisible cap came 
off when he was twisting the hour- 
glass,” said Olga, “so the wood-cut- 
ter could see the wings.” 

“I dare say that was the way of 
it,” said Grandfather. 

“Did Hendrick and Elsa ever get 
married?” went on the little girl. 

“To be sure!” answered Grand- 
father. “But that was years after, 
when they grew up, and a handsome 
young couple they were.” 

“Did The Good Year keep his 
promise about the harvest?” asked 
Arne. 

“Of course he kept his promise,” 
said Grandfather. “All through 
178 


THE GOOD YEAR 


July and August the wheat and oats 
and barley grew and ripened, till 
the fields looked like gold and silver. 
When the sun shone too hot, The 
Good Year shook his hour-glass till 
showers came, and there was no 
burning drought as in the bad years 
before. In the autumn, when every- 
thing from all the fields and or- 
chards was gathered, and the village 
folk trimmed the church for the 
harvest festival, never were seen 
such golden sheaves or such red- 
cheeked apples; and everybody 
thanked the good God for sending 
them such a wonderful year. And 
not only was there plenty for the 
village, but plenty for the forest 
creatures, too; so the wolves were 
179 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


satisfied to stay in their hiding places 
and did not trouble us.” 

“Why, Grandfather,” said Arne, 
with round eyes, “would they come 
out of the forest then?” 

“Indeed they would!” answered 
Grandfather. “In those days, when 
their food was scarce, they would 
often come at night and rob our 
sheep-folds; and sometimes, when 
things were very bad with them, 
they would even venture boldly into 
the village in broad daylight.” 

“Did you ever see one do that?” 
asked Olga. 

“No,” said Grandfather, “I didn’t 
see it myself, but I remember well 
one day when it happened. It was 
the time of a bad year, and little Lief, 
i8o 


THE GOOD YEAR 

the shop-keeper’s son, was playing 
in the door-yard of their cottage, 
which was on the edge of the village, 
when suddenly a gaunt, hungry 
wolf came running from the forest, 
and seizing little Lief’s jacket in his 
teeth, was about to carry him ©£f. 
But little Lief screamed so loud that 
his elder brother heard him, and 
hurrying out with a big cudgel 
bravely drove away the wolf. Lit- 
tle Lief was so frightened that it was 
many weeks before he would play 
outdoors again, and then he never 
would go alone. Indeed, all the 
rest of that year, the village people 
were afraid to let their children out 
of their sight.” 

Arne and Olga each drew a long 

i8i 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 

breath, and “Oh!” cried Olga, “I 
should think you would have been 
glad of a Good Year that kept the 
wolves away!” 

Grandfather puffed at his pipe in 
silence for a few minutes, and then 
he said, “But he was growing old 
and tired, and by the time the De- 
cember sand began to run, his hair 
and long beard were as white as his 
mantle, and every day the scythe 
and hour-glass seemed to be heavier 
to carry. Of course the things he 
must look after over all the world 
were a great care to him, and 
though he tried hard, he could not 
please everybody, especially as now 
and then he was obliged to swing 
the great scythe. But he was 


THE GOOD YEAR 

pleased when he heard the people 
of our village call him ‘The Good 
Year’; he would smile to himself, 
and say how glad he was that he had 
been able at least to make this little 
place happy. There was only one 
thing more he wanted to see, and 
that was that we had a merry Christ- 
mas. ‘After that,’ he would say to 
himself, ‘when my time is up, I shall 
be quite ready and willing to go.’ ” 
“And did you have a fine Christ- 
mas? So fine as ours?” asked 
Arne. 

“Indeed, yes!” answered Grand- 
father, “the merriest ever seen! 
The harvest had been so bountiful, 
that the week before Christmas 
when we went to put up our sheaves 

183 


WHEN TAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


of oats and barley for the birds, it 
wasn’t only to the cottage roofs we 
fastened them, as you children did, 
but we tied them, besides, in a golden 
fringe all around the eaves, and 
clusters nodded from even the fence 
posts; and the snow-birds came in 
great flocks for their holiday feast. 
And there was not a house in the 
village but had its Yule-log wound 
with greens, and a Christmas tree 
all trimmed with paper flowers and 
gay tinsel.” 

“I don’t believe they were any 
prettier than ours!” said Olga, 
looking toward the table where 
the fir-tree twinkled in the fire- 
light. 

“No, no, child, perhaps not,” said 
184 


THE GOOD YEAR 


Grandfather, “only everybody had 
one; and you know this year some 
folks in the village are too poor to 
trim a tree. And then how we 
danced and sang and feasted!” he 
went on, his mind, as old people’s 
are apt to do, still dwelling on the 
golden past. 

“Did you have boiled fish and 
roast goose, like we have on Christ- 
mas?” asked Olga again. 

“Yes,” answered Grandfather, 
“and fresh cinnamon bread, and 
sweet cheeses, and sugar cake, and 
ale and nuts and red apples. And 
then, in the evening, two little boys 
went around singing pretty carols, 
just as you and Svend Hardin did 
this year, Arne. Little Hendrick, 

185 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


the parson’s son was one, and I for- 
get the other.” 

“Were they dressed in white, like 
we were, and did they carry a star 
lantern and dolls?” interrupted 
Arne. 

“Yes,” said Grandfather, “they 
wore little white suits, and Hendrick 
carried a lantern shaped like a star, 
in memory of the Star of Bethlehem, 
and the other little boy held two 
dolls dressed to represent the blessed 
Christ-child and his Mother, and 
the lads sang so sweetly, — though 
not sweeter than you did, Arne,” 
added Grandfather, patting his hair 
—“and everybody praised them and 
gave them cakes and sugar-plums. 

“When the happy Christmas was 

i86 


THE GOOD YEAR 

over, The Good Year smiled con- 
tentedly; his last wish had been ful- 
filled and he was quite satisfied to 
go, for he knew the December sands 
were almost run. But the village 
people mourned about it. They 
said he had made them so happy, 
they wished he would never fly 
away. I think we dreaded the New 
Year a bit, for one never knows 
what sorrows the new-comer may 
have in store. 

“When The Good Year saw that 
there was only a tiny trickle of sand 
left in the upper half of his hour- 
glass, he folded his white mantle 
about him and put down the scythe, 
which he knew he would soon be 
rid of; and we village folk went to 

187 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 


the church, where your father and 
mother are now, to watch until mid- 
night, just as they are doing. 

“After the parson had finished 
the service, we all sat quietly till 
from the belfry came the first stroke 
of twelve, and the young men up 
there with the old bell-ringer be- 
gan to beat on their drums. 

“Then we opened the door, and 
looked out across the snowy fields. 
Far away a white mist seemed to be 
rising. Up and up it floated, 
higher and higher. Some thought 
they could see in it two shining 
white wings, others a trailing white 
mantle, but nobody could tell for 
certain. Higher and higher it rose, 
drifting lightly across the moon, 
i88 


THE GOOD YEAR 


and then beyond a cluster of golden 
stars, till at last it vanished in the 
deep blue midnight sky. So it was 
that The Good Year passed away 
from earth.” 

When he had finished the story, 
Grandfather shut the silver lid of 
his holiday pipe and smoothed its 
gay tassels; then, leaning his head 
back on the settle, he closed his eyes ; 
Arne and Olga crept up closer, 
nestling at either side of him, and 
soon all three were fast asleep. 
They slept so soundly that they did 
not hear when the bell struck for 
midnight, nor the booming of the 
New Year’s drums. Nor did they 
hear the merry tinkling of the little 
silver bells as presently the sleighs 
189 


WHEN FAIRIES WERE FRIENDLY 

went flying by, taking the farmer 
folk to their homes. Indeed, they 
only wakened when the door opened 
and in came the father and mother, 
shaking off a flurry of twinkling 
snowflakes as they entered, and call- 
ing out, “A Happy New Year! 
'A Happy, Happy New Year!” 


THE END 


190 


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BLUE BONNET IN BOSTON 

By Caroline E. Jacobs and Lela Horn Richards. 

“ It is bound to become popular because of its whole- 
someness and its many human touches.” — Boston Globe. 

BLUE BONNET KEEPS HOUSE 

By Caroline E. Jacobs and Lela Horn Richards. 

“ It cannot fail to prove fascinating to girls in their 
teens.” — New York Sun. 

BLUE BONNET — DEBUTANTE 

By Lela Horn Richards. 

An interesting picture of the unfolding of life for 
Blue Bonnet. 

BLUE BONNET OF THE SEVEN STARS 

By Lela Horn Richards. 

“The author’s intimate detail and charm of narration 
gives the reader an interesting story of the heroine’s war 
activities.” — Pittsburgh Leader. 

A — 1 


THE PAGE eOMPANTS 


THE YOUNG PIONEER SERIES 

By Harrison Adams 

EcuA 12mOf eloth decorative, illustrated, per 
volume $1.65 

THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE OHIO; Ob, 

Clearing the Wilderness. 

“ Such books as this are an admirable means of stimu- 
lating among the young Americans of to-day interest in 
the story of their pioneer ancestors and the early days of 
the Republic.” — Boston Globe. 

THE PIONEER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES ; 

Or, On the Trail op the Iroquois. 

“ The recital of the daring deeds of the frontier is not 
only interesting but instructive as well and shows the 
Sterling t3rpe of character which these days of self-rehanoe 
and trial produced.” — American Tourist, Chicago. 

THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSISSIPPI; 

Ob, The Homestead in the Wilderness. 

“The story is told with spirit, and is full of adven- 
ture.” — New York Sun. 

THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSOURI; 

Or, In the Country of the Sioux. 

“ Vivid in style, vigorous in movement, full of dramatic 
situations, true to historic perspective, this story is a 
capital one for boys.” — Watchman Examiner, New York 
City. 

THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE YELLOW- 
STONE; Or, Lost in the Land of Wonders. 
“There is plenty of lively adventure and action and 
the story is well told.” — Duluth Herald, Duluth, Minn. 

THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE COLUMBIA; 

Or, In the Wilderness of the Great Northwest. 

“ The story is fuM of spirited action and contains mudl 
valuable historioal information.” — Boston HercUcL 
A— 2 


BOOKS FOB YOUNG PEOPLE 


THE HADLEY HALL SERIES 

By Louise M. Breitenbach 
Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, 
per volume . . . . . . • $1.65 

ALMA AT HADLEY HALL 

“The author is to be congratulated on having written 
such an appealing book for girls.” — Detroit Free Press. 

ALMA’S SOPHOMORE YEAR 

“ It cannot fail to appeal to the lovers of good things 
in girls’ books.” — Boston Herald. 

ALMA’S JUNIOR YEAR 

“The diverse characters in the boarding-school are 
strongly drawn, the incidents are well developed and the 
action is never dull.” — The Boston Herald. 

ALMA’S SENIOR YEAR 

“A healthy, natural atmosphere breathes from every 
chapter,” — Boston Transcript. 


THE GIRLS OF 
FRIENDLY TERRACE SERIES 

By Harriet Lummis Smith 
Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, 
per volume $1.65 

THE GIRLS OF FRIENDLY TERRACE 

“A book sure to please girl readers, for the author 
seems to understand perfectly the girl character.” — 
Boston Globe. 

PEGGY RAYMOND’S VACATION 

“It is a wholesome, hearty story.” — Utica Observer. 

PEGGY RAYMOND’S SCHOOL DAYS 

The book is delightfully written, and contains lots of 
exciting incidents. 

THE FRIENDLY TERRACE QUARTETTE 

These four lively girls found their opportunities U 
serve their country. The story of their adventures will 
bring anew to every girl who reads about them the reali- 
sation of what she owes to her country. 

A— 8 


THE PAGE COMPANTS 


FAMOUS LEADERS SERIES 

By Chaeles H. L. Johnston 
Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, 

•per volume $3.00 

FAMOUS CAVALRY LEADERS 

“More of such books should be written, books that 
acquaint young readers with historical personages in a 
pleasant, informal way.” — New York Sun. 

FAMOUS INDIAN CHIEFS 

“ Mr. Johnston has done faithful work in this volume, 
and his relation of battles, sieges and struggles of these 
famous Indians with the whites for the possession of 
America is a worthy addition to United States History.” 
— New York Marine Journal. 

FAMOUS SCOUTS 

“ It is the kind of a book that will have a great fascina- 
tion for boys and young men .” — New London Day. 

FAMOUS PRIVATEERSMEN AND ADVEN- 
TURERS OF THE SEA 

“The tales are more than merely interesting; they are 
entrancing, stirring the blood with thrilling force.” — 
Pittsburgh Post. 

FAMOUS FRONTIERSMEN AND HEROES OF 
THE BORDER 

“ The accounts are not only authentic, but distinctly 
readable, making a book of wide appeal to all who love 
the history of actual adventure.” — Cleveland Leader. 

FAMOUS DISCOVERERS AND EXPLORERS 
OF AMERICA 

“The book is an epitome of some of the wildest and 
bravest adventures of which the world has known.” — 
Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 

FAMOUS GENERALS OF THE GREAT WAR 

Who Led the United States and Her Allies to a Glo- 
rious Victory. 

“The pages of this book have the charm of romance 
without its unreality. The book illuminates, with life- 
like portraits, the history of the World War.” — Bochei* 
ter Post Express. 

A — 4 


BOOKS FOB YOTTNO PEOPLE 


HILDEGARDE- MARGARET SERIES 

By Laura E. Richards 
Eleven Volumes 

The Hildegarde-Margaret Series, beginning with 
“ Queen Hildegarde ” and ending with “ The Merry- 
weathers,” make one of the best and most popular series 
of books for girls ever written. 

Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, 

per volume $ 1.75 

The eleven volumes boxed as a set . •, • $ 19.^5 

UST OF TITLES 

QUEEN HILDEGARDE 

HILDEGARDE ’S HOLmAY 

HILDEGARDE’S HOME 

HILDEGARDE’S NEIGHBORS 

HILDEGARDE ’S HARVEST 

THREE MARGARETS 

MARGARET MONTFORT 

PEGGY 

RITA 

FERNLEY HOUSE 

THE MERRYWEATHERS 
A— 6 


THE PAGE COMP ANTS 


THE CAPTAIN JANUARY SERIES 

By Laura E. Richards 

Each one volume, 12mo, cloth decoratwe, illus- 
trated, per volume 90 cents 

CAPTAIN JANUARY 

A charming idyl of New England coast life, whose 
success has been very remarkable. 

SAME. Illustrated Holiday Edition . . $1.35 

MELODY: The Story of a Child. 

MARIE 

A companion to “Melody” and “Captain January.” 

ROSIN THE BEAU 

A sequel to “Melody” and “Marie.” 

SNOW-WHITE; Or, The House in the Wood. 

JIM OF HELLAS; Or, In Durance Vile, and a 
companion story, Bethesda Pool. 

NARCISSA 

And a companion story. In Verona, being two delight- 
ful short stories of New England life. 

"SOME SAY” 

And a companion story. Neighbors in Cyrus. 

NAUTILUS 

“‘Nautilus ’ is by far the best product of the author’s 
powers, and is certain to achieve the wide success it so 
richly merits.” 

ISLA HERON 

This interesting story is written in the author’s usual 
charming manner. 




BOOKS FOB YOUNG PEOPLE 


DELIGHTFUL BOOKS FOR LITTLE 
FOLKS 

By Laura E. Richards 

THREE MINUTE STORIES 

Cloth decorative, 12mo, with eight plates in full color 
and many text illustrations .... $1.75 
“ Little ones will understand and delight in the stories 
and poems.” — Indianapolis News. 

FIVE MINUTE STORIES 

Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated . $1.75 

A charming collection of short stories and clever 
poems for children. 

MORE FIVE MINUTE STORIES 

Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated . $1.75 
A noteworthy collection of short stories and poems 
for children, which will prove as popular with mothers 
as with boys and girls. 

FIVE MICE IN A MOUSE TRAP 

Cloth decorative, square 12mo, illustrated . $1.75 

The story of their lives and other wonderful things 
related by the Man in the Moon, done in the vernacular 
from the lunacular form by Laura E. Richards. 


A NEW BOOK FOR GIRLS 

By Laura E. Richards 

HONOR BRIGHT 

Cloth decorative, l^o, illustrated . . . $1.75 

No girl ever deserved more to have a series of stories 
written about her than does HONOR BRIGHT, the new- 
est heroine of a talented author who has created many 
charming girls. Born of American parents who die 
in the far East, Honor spends her school days at the 
Pension Madeline in Vevey, Switzerland, surrounded by 
playmates of half a dozen nationalities. As are all of 
Mrs. Richards’ heroines, HONOR BRIGHT is the high- 
est type of the young girl of America, with all the in- 
dependence of character which is American to the core 
in young as in old. 

A — 7 


THE PAGE COMP ANT 8 


THE BOYS’ STORY OF THE 
RAILROAD SERIES 

By Burton E. Stevenson 
Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, 
per volume $1.75 

THE YOUNG SECTION-HAND; Ob, The Ad- 
ventures OF Allan West. 

“The whole range of section railroading is covered in 
the story.” — Chicago Post. 

THE YOUNG TRAIN DISPATCHER 

“ A vivacious account of the varied and often hazard- 
ous nature of railroad life.” — Congregationalist. 

THE YOUNG TRAIN MASTER 

“ It is a book that can be unreservedly commended to 
anyone who loves a good, wholesome, thrilling, informing 
yarn .” — Passaic News. 

THE YOUNG APPRENTICE; Or, Allan West’s 
Chum. 

“ The story is intensely interesting.” — Baltimore Sun. 

BOY SCOUT STORIES 

By Brewer Corcoran 

Published with the approval of “ The Boy Scouts of 
America.’' 

Each, one volume, 12mo, cloth decorative, illus- 
trated, per volume $1.75 

THE BOY SCOUTS OF KENDALLVILLE 

The story of a bright young factory worker who can- 
not enlist, but his knowledge of woodcraft and wig- 
wagging, gained through Scout practice, enables him to 
foil a German plot to blow up the munitions factory. 

THE BOY SCOUTS OF THE WOLF PATROL 

The boys of Gillfield who were not old enough to go 
to war found just as many thrills at home, chasing a 
German spy. 

THE BOY SCOUTS AT CAMP LOWELL 

“The best book for boys I have ever read!” says our 
editor. Mr. Corcoran has again found enough exciting 
material to keep the plot humming from cover to cover. 
A — 8 


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